Yellow vest protesters have blocked fuel depots like this one in Frontignan, southern France, where a woman's vest reads "Macron, traitor, the people are hungry"PARIS - 6 December 2018: The French government on Wednesday urged parties across the political divide to calm the protests that have raged nationwide for more than two weeks, and signalled it was ready to make further concessions to avoid more violence.French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to rival political leaders as well as trade unions to help tamp down the anti-government anger that on Saturday led to some of the worst rioting in central Paris in decades, according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux. "The moment that we are living through is not about political opposition, it's about the republic," Griveaux said after a cabinet meeting.Prime Minister Edouard Philippe echoed the call, telling parliament: "What is at stake is the security of French people and our institutions. I'm calling for responsibility. "But Macron personally stood his ground, telling his cabinet: "We will not undo everything that has been done over the past 18 months. "On Tuesday, Philippe had announced the first major retreat of Macron's presidency when he suspended for six months a rise in fuel taxes scheduled for January 1.He also froze increases in regulated electricity and gas prices and new vehicle norms which would have hit users of old, polluting diesel cars -- a battery of announcements targeted at low-income families.But experts say the government may have reacted too late to the street protests, a regular feature of French political life which have repeatedly forced Macron's predecessors into U-turns.

Source: Egypt Today December 05, 2018 23:03 UTC