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The French journalist compared riots against the fuel tax on the shopping boulevard of the Champs-Elysees this weekend to "scenes of war," while he criticized the "thugs" behind the rise of violence. But critics hit the president for his reaction. Wauquiez, leader of the right-wing Republican Party, told CNews on television: "We are at a dead end. And the only way to end this stalemate is to let the French express themselves. The public must be consulted, and for that we need a referendum. It is the tool of the Fifth Republic. "
Mr Macron said earlier on Tuesday that he understood the anger felt by voters over the pressure exerted by the price of gasoline on purchasing power, but baderted that he would not be forced by the demonstrators to change the policy.
He acknowledged, however, that the rise in the diesel tax, which began at the same time as pump prices were rising, hit the people in the portfolio harder than expected.
He tried to calm the anger of protesters, nicknamed "yellow vests" because of the fluorescent protection vests that all French drivers must possess in case of car trouble, with a proposal to revise the tax rates on the car. gasoline every three months to take into account world oil prices.
The price of diesel, the most used motor fuel in France, has risen by about 23% in the last 12 months, reaching an average of 1.51 euro (1.32 £) per liter.
Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech after a meeting on "the strategy of ecological transition" (Image: Ian Langsdon / Pool via REUTERS)
French Revolution (Image: JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP / Getty Images)
The leader of the right-wing party Les Républicains, M. Wauquiez (Image: PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP / Getty Images)
World oil prices rose before falling back, but the Macron government increased its hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents per liter for diesel and 3.9 cents for fuel, as part of the price increase. a campaign to reduce pollution and combat climate change.
For more than a week, protesters from the "Yellow Vest" paralyzed traffic in France and blocked access to some fuel depots, shopping malls and factories to protest tax hikes.
Two people were accidentally killed and more than 600 injured during the 12 days of unrest.
"We must not change course because the political direction is right and necessary," said Macron, presenting his plan to transition to cleaner energy.
"I will not confuse citizens and their demands with thugs … I will not give up any land to those who want to destroy and create disorder," he continued, referring to the "yellow vest" riots that have turned the Champs-Elysees to Paris shopping avenue into a "battlefield" on Saturday.
He also admitted that his administration needed to be smarter in its political decisions to avoid the emergence of a "two-speed France", in which workers living in rural areas would be left behind and would become more and more frustrated by the urban elite.
But the president's political rivals were not so convinced by Mr. Macron's proposals as Mr. Wauquiez.
The leader of the far right, Marine Le Pen, said his speech was "confused" and "devoid of solutions", while the far-left leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said that the young president "ran out of fuel".
The riots of the "yellow vest" transformed the shopping avenue of the Champs-Elysees of Paris into a "battlefield" (Image: Chesnot / Getty Images)
Socialist Party leader Oliver Faure said Macron turned a deaf ear to voters' complaints.
"It's not just about the fuel tax, it's also about the erosion of purchasing power. But on this issue, the president remained silent – completely silent, "Faure told the BFM TV news channel.
Republican spokeswoman Laurence Sailliet called the current social climate "hopeless".
"What this speech tells us is that Emmanuel Macron has neither left the street nor turned on his television since the" yellow vests "began to express their suffering," he said. she declared.
76% of French people think that Mr Macron's proposals "are not enough" (Image: XAVIER LEOTY / AFP / Getty Images)
A poll released shortly after Macron's speech showed that three in four French people are not impressed by his efforts to end the fuel crisis.
The survey of 1,013 people, conducted by the pollster Opinionway for RTL radio, the LCI television channel and the daily Le Figaro from 21 to 22 November, revealed that 76% of French people think that the proposals of M Macron – namely the proposal to revise tax rates quarterly – "are not enough".
The survey also revealed that 78% of French people wanted the Macron government to remove the gas price increase scheduled for January 1st.
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