“Long live India-France friendship”: Emmanuel Macron at Rashtrapati Bhavan
At the outset of his address during a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, Macron expressed heartfelt gratitude for the warm welcome extended to his delegation.
“This is not a time for politics,” French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday told the nation in a short televised speech in the wake of Notre Dame Cathedral fire, pledging to come out with a response to the “Yellow Vest” movement soon.
“I will come back to you as I have been committed in the coming days so that we can act collectively following ‘the great debate’,” he said.
Still struggling to find a way out of the social unrest, the president regretted “the false impatience”, saying “tomorrow politics and its turmoil will resume… but the moment has not yet come.”
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Macron, a former investment banker, had planned to reach out to discontent people on Monday evening to unveil decisions he has taken to ease social tension that led his approval ratings to a record low, Xinhua reported.
However, he had cancelled the speech after a blaze consumed Notre Dame Cathedral’s roof and spire, which had brought shock and sorrow to France and the rest of the world.
A press conference scheduled on Tuesday was also delayed, according to the presidency office.
The “Yellow Vest” movement, a nationwide protest against weak economic performance and stagnant income increase under President Macron, started as a campaign against a surge in fuel prices in November 2018.
It had since turned into a social rebellion demanding Macron to step down, despite his reversal of tax hike and measures worth 10 billion euros ($11.28 billion) to bolster purchasing power. (1 euro = 1.128 U.S. dollars)
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