PARIS - French Prime Minister is expected to announce a suspension of fuel tax hikes that have provoked a protest movement that has grown violent, according to French media.
Edouard Philippe, the minister, is expected to announce the planned increase will be suspended for several months, Le Monde and France Info radio reported. Philippe is also expected to announce other measures aimed at easing tensions.
The protests, which began in mid-November, have grown increasingly violent. Over the weekend more than 130 people were injured and over 400 were arrested in the nation’s capital. Officials have called it the worst in the country in decades.
The protesters say they want to level a playing field that they believe is tipped in favor of the elite and well-off city dwellers.
The fuel tax “was the spark,” said Thierry Paul Valette, a Paris protest coordinator, in an interview. “If it hadn’t been (that), it would have been something else.”
“People want fair fiscal justice. They want social justice,” he added, as well as improved purchasing power. (Fox News)