‘Yellow Vests’ open a new front in the battle: Popular referendums

Many of the "Yellow Vests" who hit the streets again on Saturday wielded signs with the acronym RIC – for "Citizens' Initiative Referendum" – as demonstrators demanded popular votes be held to allow citizens to vet government policy proposals. In a list of demands released in late November, the Yellow Vests ask that any policy proposal garnering 700,000 signatures trigger a national referendum to be held within a year. The RIC is one item on a list of 42 measures being demanded by the Yellow Vests.

A 2008 constitutional amendment provided for holding a referendum if a measure had the support of one-fifth of the members of Parliament and the backing of one-tenth of registered voters. But the citizens' initiative has never been used, despite the launch of a website dedicated to listing the public proposals currently under debate. FRANCE 3 and FRANCE 24’s Peter O’Brien explain how a Citizen’s Initiative Referendum could come about.