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FRANCE-POLITICS-PROTEST
Macron to meet unions, address nation seeking to end ‘yellow vest’ crisis
PARIS, Dec 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron will address the
nation on the “yellow vest” crisis Monday and meet trade unionists and
business leaders in search of a way to end the protests that have rocked
France.
The president will speak to the French people at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), his
Elysee office announced — his first public comments after four weeks of
nationwide anti-government demonstrations which again turned violent Saturday
in Paris and other cities.
Government officials have said the 40-year-old centrist would announce
“immediate and concrete measures” to respond to protesters’ grievances.
Calls have multiplied across the political spectrum for drastic action,
with former far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen urging Macron to
“recognise society’s suffering and deliver immediate, very strong responses”.
“It is clear that we underestimated people’s need to make themselves
heard,” government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told Europe 1 radio on Sunday.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the weeks of unrest were an “economic
catastrophe” for France, causing havoc on the roads and putting off shoppers
and tourists in the run-up to Christmas.
The “yellow vests”, clad in the luminous safety jackets carried by law in
all French cars, began staging nationwide roadblocks on November 17 in
protest against tax hikes raising the price of fuel.
Their demonstrations have since snowballed into a mass movement against
ex-banker Macron, whom protesters accuse of being out of touch with ordinary
people in provincial France.
Looting and rioting, blamed mostly on far-left and far-right agitators,
has repeatedly broken out in Paris, spreading to Bordeaux, Toulouse, and
other cities.
Authorities said the property damage caused in the capital on Saturday was
far worse than a week earlier, with burnt-out cars and broken glass left
strewn across several neighbourhoods.
Some 10,000 protesters had taken to Paris’ streets, where about 8,000
police were deployed.
Security forces launched a massive operation in a bid to minimise the
unrest, detaining more than 1,000 people and mobilising armoured cars in
Paris for the first time.
– Further climbdowns? – Elected in May 2017 on a promise to revitalise the
sluggish French economy, Macron had previously vowed not to be swayed by mass
protests like his predecessors.
But he announced a climbdown on the hated fuel tax rise last week, and
further concessions appear to be on the cards.
So far, Macron has refused to back down on another policy that is deeply
unpopular among the “yellow vests”: his decision to scrap a tax on assets for
France’s richest.
Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud on Sunday also rejected the idea of an
increase in the minimum wage — a demand from many protesters who say they
are barely scraping by.
“We know that destroys jobs,” Penicaud said.
“If we raise all salaries automatically, many businesses would just go
bust — or they would have to raise their prices, and no one would pay for
their services.”
With an estimated 136,000 people taking part nationwide last weekend, the
protests have shown little sign of easing since they began.
The protesters overwhelmingly hail from rural and small-town France but
have a range of different goals — from lower taxes to Macron’s resignation –
– making his attempted negotiations with them all the more difficult.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0819 hrs