Over Half French Citizens Believe 'Yellow Vests' Protests Should Stop - Poll

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th December, 2018) Most French citizens consider anti-crisis measures proposed by President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday to be a successful response to the claims of the "yellow vests" protesters and believe that the protests should be stopped, a survey conducted by the OpinionWay pollster revealed.

On Monday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an tv address to the nation that he declared a state of economic and social emergency in the country in response to the protests. He also asked the government to introduce a number of measures aimed at resolving the social and economic crisis in the country that provoked a wave of protest actions. In particular, Macron promised to increase the minimum wage, presented a measure of support for pensioners earning less than 2,000 Euros per month, and asked the companies to pay an annual bonus to employees.

As many as 54 percent of respondents believe that the protests of the "yellow vests" should be stopped after Macron's speech, but another 45 percent believe they should continue.

At the same time, 66 percent of respondents support the "yellow vests" and only 34 percent do not support them.

The majority of survey participants called anti-crisis measures proposed by the president a good response to the claims of the protesters, with 60 percent of them favoring abolition of taxes on annual bonuses and 68 percent favoring minimum wage increase. As many as 72 percent of respondents welcomed abolishing insurance premiums from low pensions, and 78 percent believe that abolishing overtime work taxation is good.

At the same time, half of the respondents considered the president's speech unconvincing. Another 49 percent of those surveyed appreciated Macron's appeal.

The survey was conducted after Macron's speech among 991 French citizens age 18 and older. The study was commissioned by the LCI broadcaster, which published its results.

France has seen a wave of mass protests since mid-November, when the so-called yellow vest protesters � named after the obligatory attribute of French drivers � took to the streets to rally against rising fuel prices and a planned hike in tax on diesel and carbon fuels.

The yellow vest rallies have been marked by violent clashes with police officers, who have used tear gas and rubber bullets against the protesters.