Frenchmen protest fuel taxes; 1 killed
Consumers don yellow vests to protest policies of French President EmmanuelMacron
PARIS— Thousands of Frenchmen protested higher fuel taxes and President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies in demonstrations across motorways in France. A woman was killed in the department of Savoie on Saturday while hundreds were injured, as drivers tried to get around blockades put up by protesters in yellow vests all over the country.
PARIS— Thousands of Frenchmen protested higher fuel taxes and President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies in demonstrations across motorways in France.
A woman was killed in the department of Savoie on Saturday while hundreds were injured, as drivers tried to get around blockades put up by protesters in yellow vests all over the country.
Skidding popularity
The demonstrations were coordinated on social media and echoed complaints against rising prices and mounting dissatisfaction with Macron, whose satisfaction rating dropped to just 25 percent.
According to the interior ministry, nearly 283,000 demonstrators took part in Saturday’s protests and at least 227 people were injured across France, including six serious cases.
At a blockade in the south-
eastern department of Savoie, a driver panicked when protesters surrounded her car and she accelerated, hitting and killing a female demonstrator, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.
By early evening, 73 people had been taken into custody, and some demonstrators were still in place at nightfall.
Police used tear gas to clear the entrance to a tunnel under the Mont Blanc mountain in the Alps, and to push back demonstrators near the Elysee Palace in Paris and in the center of Lyon.
‘Too many taxes’
Protestors chanted “Macron, resign” and some sported slogans such as “give us back our purchasing power” on the back of the yellow high-visibility vests, which have come to symbolize the movement.
“There are just too many taxes in France,” said Veronique Lestrade, a demon-
strator on the outskirts of Paris, who said her family was struggling to make ends meet.
In 18 months in power, Macron has seen off trade unions and street demonstrations as he loosened labor laws and overhauled the state rail operator to reboot the economy.
Derided by political opponents as “the president of the
rich” for measures such as the end of a wealth tax, Macron’s popularity has dwindled to new lows of 25 percent.
Tax hikes on fuel and tobacco, as well as an increase to a social welfare levy before other tax cuts came into force have left some voters feeling squeezed.
The diesel tax increases, designed to encourage drivers to
switch to more environmentfriendly cars, were approved in late 2017 but began to bite when oil prices surged in October, angering those who need their cars to get to work.
Standing firm
Ministers announced funds last Wednesday to help motorists on the lowest incomes, even if Macron was standing firm on his fuel policy.
Prices have eased this month, although protestors on Saturday had other complaints, too, as Macron’s next test at the ballot box in European parliamentary elections in May 2019 looms.
“I happily voted for Macron in 2017, but he’s really making fun of us,” said Dominique Jouvert, 63, a retired civil servant in Lyon.
“There’s no discussion to be had with him, no dialogue, he’s arrogant. What’s certain is that I won’t vote for him again,” she said.