A MAN STANDS IN FRONT OF A DAMAGED RESTAURANT ON THE CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES FOLLOWING ‘YELLOW VESTS’ DEMONSTRATIONS. FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON WILL ADDRESS THE NATION MONDAY.
Macron to break silence with speech Monday
• Tourist sites reopened, workers cleaned up broken glass and shop owners tried to put Paris on its feet again Sunday, a day after running battles between “yellow vest” protesters and police that left at least 71 injured in the French capital and caused widespread damage in cities around France.
The man at the focus of protesters’ anger, President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation on Monday evening, breaking a long silence over rising protests that are shaking France.
An official of the Élysée Palace ended the mystery about when Macron would publicly tackle the issues arising from protests of a grassroots movement that have culminated four Saturdays in a row with massive demonstrations — marked by violence and vandalism — in cities around France, especially Paris.
The official said the president will address the nation in a speech from the Élysée Palace.
Meanwhile, the economy minister lamented the damage to the economy.
“This is a catastrophe for commerce, it’s a catastrophe for our economy,” Bruno Le Maire said Sunday while visiting merchants around the Saint Lazare train station, among areas hit by vandalism as the pre-Christmas shopping season got underway.
After the fourth Saturday of nationwide protests by a grassroots movement with broadening demands officials said they understood the depth of the crisis. Le Maire said it was a social and democratic crisis as well as a “crisis of the nation” with “territorial fractures.”
Benjamin Griveaux, the government spokesman, speaking on LCI TV station, said he was “sure (Macron) will know how to find the path to the hearts of the French, speak to their hearts.”
The president must also speak to their pocketbooks. Among myriad demands voiced by protesters, measures to increase buying power were a bottom line.
The number of injured in Paris and nationwide was down Saturday from protest riots a week ago, and most of the capital remained untouched. Still, TV footage broadcast around the world of the violence in Paris neighbourhoods popular with tourists has tarnished the country’s image.
A number of tourists at the Eiffel Tower, which reopened Sunday after closing Saturday, said they were avoiding the ChampsÉlysées, Paris’ main avenue that is lined with shops and cafés and normally a magnet for foreign visitors.
Some 125,000 yellow vests took to the streets Saturday around France.