Dubbed the
"yellow vests" after the high-visibility jackets they use as their
symbol, they are expected to muster in at least 700 locations.
They accuse
President Emmanuel Macron of abandoning "the little people".
Mr Macron
admitted this week that he had not "really managed to reconcile the French
people with its leaders".
Nonetheless,
he accused his political opponents of hijacking the movement in order to block
his reform programme.
Officials
have warned that, while they will not stop the protests, they will not allow
them to bring the French road network to a standstill.
The price of
diesel, the most commonly used fuel in French cars, has risen by around 23%
over the past 12 months to an average of €1.51 (£1.32; $1.71) per litre, its
highest point since the early 2000s, AFP news agency reports.
World oil
prices did rise before falling back again but the Macron government raised its
hydrocarbon tax this year by 7.6 cents per litre on diesel and 3.9 cents on
petrol, as part of a campaign for cleaner cars and fuel.
The decision
to impose a further increase of 6.5 cents on diesel and 2.9 cents on petrol on
1 January 2019 was seen as the final straw.
Speaking on
Wednesday, the president blamed world oil prices for three-quarters of the
price rise. Interior Minister Christopher Castaner argued that the fall in
world oil prices would compensate for the tax increase.
District
nurse Philippe Salmon, who backed Mr Macron in last year's presidential
election, is now a passionate "yellow vest", AFP news agency reports,
who drives around in a yellow car in the Gironde region as if to prove his
point.
"The
president says he is de-taxing work but what's going on for all those who need
a car for work?" he asked earlier this week.
Mr Salmon,
who says he never went on a demonstration before, predicts that tractors will
be blocking roads in the Bordeaux area on Saturday.
Yellow Vests
tried to protest last week when President Macron visited the northern town of
Albert, and were moved on by police.
News of the
protest has spread so fast on Facebook and Twitter that new muster points seem
to appear daily as people share hash tags such as #GiletsJaunes (Yellow Vests)
and #17novembre.
Demonstrators
are threatening to block motorways and access roads to some oil depots,
including in Calais near the Channel Tunnel, Reuters news agency reports.
One less
disruptive tactic being suggested is to cover speed cameras with bin bags.
At the same
time, many protest supporters were planning to turn out merely to show their
high-visibility jackets.
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