French Gov't Has Means To Help Economy, Yet People Want Transparency -Yellow Vest Activist

French Gov't Has Means to Help Economy, Yet People Want Transparency -Yellow Vest Activist

France has the financial capacity to implement economic measures that French President Emmanuel Macron proposed in order to ease social tensions, but people will only be satisfied if there is more transparency in decision-making, Rodolph Kujawa, a "yellow vest" activist in southeastern French Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) France has the financial capacity to implement economic measures that French President Emmanuel Macron proposed in order to ease social tensions, but people will only be satisfied if there is more transparency in decision-making, Rodolph Kujawa, a "yellow vest" activist in southeastern French Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region told Sputnik.

On Monday, Macron responded to violent protests against various government reforms by promising to raise the minimum wage, scrap the tax on overtime, encourage employers to give workers a tax-free bonus at the end of the year and drop plans for a tax raise for low-income pensioners. These measures would cost $9-11 billion in extra budget funding.

"It's a nice move ... Macron decided to take a step back on tax increases, it's a good thing and he can do it. France has financial capacity to do it ... The majority of the French won't be satisfied with what Macron has announced, because people want more. They lost trust in politics, they want to know exactly where their money goes, so the authorities can make gifts, it's good, but as long as there isn't more transparency, people will not put their trust in politics, and that's the most important thing," Kujawa said.

Kujawa went on to say that Macron's proposals had to be followed by real steps.

"What Macron proposed is good ... He declared something, but then we need it to be followed by work. And this political work has to include people, at the level of regions and communes. People are convinced now they have something to say ... the president can't have all the solutions," he said.

The activist said that President Macron had to "go further" if he wanted people's trust back after breaking his promises to voters.

"The problem of Macron is that he lost the major part of the people who supported him in the beginning. People lost trust in him, and the same goes for the government. Macron said some things, like he will not touch pensions, and what he did is just the opposite to what he promised during the election. In order to regain this trust he has to go further," the activist concluded.

The measures were proposed in an effort to appease thousands of demonstrators who gathered in Paris last Saturday for the fourth weekend of protests. The grassroots movement, dubbed "yellow vests", has grown from rallies against a rising tax on diesel to a nationwide outcry against high living costs and government's policies.