POPULARITY OF FRANCE'S UPSTART NEW PRESIDENT FADING FAST
Emmanuel Macron's honeymoon didn't last long.
Less than three months after his election, France's energetic and image-conscious president has seen his popularity drop after announcing budget cuts, launching a divisive labor reform and engaging in a damaging dispute with the military.
A series of opinion polls last week showed the percentage of French citizens who said they were satisfied with Macron's policies and trusted their young leader to deal with the country's problems plunging. The reversal might not affect the visible international profile he has cut since taking office, but it could hurt Macron's ability to secure his ambitious domestic agenda.
Macron campaigned on everything he is now trying to do. We should not forget the original round of voting which saw Macron get 24% and LePen 21%. The 2nd round was completely about preventing LePen from gaining office. The surprise was En Marche! would win the National Assembly majority, based on Macon's policies.
I can only conclude that the French were still starry eyed during the National Assembly elections and are now waking up.
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That his poll numbers would fall, should not be the surprise imo, but how far they will fall... as he pushes his campaign promises forward.
I haven't been keeping track on France but I thought Macron was making strides on reestablishing France as a more dominate leader within the global arena.
It is his domestic policies that has gotten the French Left into a tither. Even before the 1st round, the left railed against him and his proposals, but was forced to back him in the final round, lest LePen gain a foothold.
Reduce number of lawmakers by a third in both the Senate and National Assembly.
Reduce by at least a quarter the number of provincial local authorities.
Ban hiring of family-members as assistants of lawmakers.
Elected mandates limited to maximum three of same kind.
Ban on consulting activity for people holding elected office.
His budget cuts are predicated on reducing inefficiencies, resulting in the loss of 120,000 positions and merging the all important public service pension systems, as well as headcount reductions in healthcare to promote better efficiency.
All of those and more, are against the very grain of what many French consider the uniqueness of France. But without them, the French are violating the budgetary rules of the EU.
It sounds like he's making changes that both sides will be upset about. If that's the case it should be interesting to see how this plays out for the people, the country and the EU. I do think it's in poor taste that Macron is avoiding the Press.