France president Emmanuel Macron address the nation Monday evening, hoping to settle the weeks-long “yellow vest” protests that have engulfed the country.
The address will be Macron’s first public comments since the start of the anti-government protests, which began weeks ago due to a proposed fuel tax increase, which has since been scrapped.
French officials said Macron will use the speech to disclose “immediate and concrete measures” to respond to protesters behind the largest civil disobedience in France in 50 years.
The symbol of the protest has been the yellow safety vests all French cars are required to carry by law. The protests started Nov. 17 with motorists blocking roads to demonstrate against the fuel hike.
They grew into a series of protests against Macron’s government that accused it of being out of touch with citizens. Some of those protests have broken out into violence, leading to looting and rioting in Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and other cities.
Officials said protesters showed up at 120 French schools Monday, 40 of which were completely blocked. The demonstrations occurred while Macron held meetings with trade unions and business leaders to lay the groundwork for his address.
The protests have continued despite Macron scrapping the fuel tax increase from the 2019 budget.
Paris’s iconic Eiffel Tower was closed over the weekend due to ongoing demonstrations and many metro train stations stopped operating. France’s interior ministry said more than 130,000 demonstrators took part in the protests, which stretched from Marseille to Toulouse.
Posted by Juliet Ekwebelam (NAN)
