French govt urges ‘yellow vests’ not to protest

The French government yesterday urged “yellow vest” protesters to refrain from holding another round of demonstrations this weekend, citing the strain on security forces on high alert after the terror attack at a Christmas market in Strasbourg. “For now we have not banned the demonstrations” which some protesters have called for Saturday, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told CNews television.

But he called on the protesters to be “reasonable” after President Emmanuel Macron offered a range of financial relief last Monday, including a minimum wage boost and a tax cut for low-income pensioners. “Our security forces have been deployed extensively these past few weeks,” Griveaux said, while insisting that “it’s not up to us to say if the movement should be called off or not.”

In the wake of the Strasbourg attack, “it would be better if everyone could go about their business calmly on Saturday, before the year-end celebrations with their families, instead of demonstrating and putting our security forces to work once again,” he said. The “yellow vest” protests began on November 17 over fuel tax increases.