France: Police Use Tear Gas As New Yellow Vest Rallies Against Gov’t Fuel Tax Reforms Hit Paris

Local Editor

French police deployed tear gas at Yellow Vest protesters in Paris. The unrest, which follows last week’s mayhem in the French capital, is triggered by fuel price hikes and tax increases.

December 1 rallies are being held with the slogan “on the way to Macron’s resignation.” The event’s Facebook page has already seen tens of thousands of people promising to either attend or considering taking part.

A prominent trade union confederation [the CGT] also called on its 46,000 followers to join the Saturday rally.

This Friday, the government failed in its bid to settle the issue after only two of the protesters’ representatives turned up for a meeting with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

One of them walked out after he was told he could not have TV cameras covering the negotiations. A recent poll shows that despite the mayhem, two-thirds of people in France still back the ‘Yellow Vest’ cause.

The movement has also inspired rallies in neighboring Belgium, where protesters on Friday called on the prime minister to resign. A standoff there also ended up in clashes with law enforcement.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team