SHARE
COPY LINK

EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron’s popularity slips (again), says poll

French President Emmanuel Macron has suffered a fresh slump in popularity, with just a 30 percent approval rating among voters, according to a new poll published Monday.

Macron's popularity slips (again), says poll
AFP

Macron, who is overhauling his communications strategy after triggering criticism for seeming aloof, acknowledged this past week that some voters are disappointed with his government's actions so far.

The 39-year-old centrist leader, elected in May, saw his rating fall for the second consecutive month, down from 36 percent a month earlier and 43 percent in late June, according to the YouGov France poll carried out for HuffPost and CNEWS.
   
“I'll have to live with people's impatience for the next few months,” Macron told the Le Point weekly on Wednesday, dismissing the recently passed milestone of 100 days in office as “irrelevant”.
 
READ ALSO:

'France faces last chance to reform labour market, but must not become like UK and US'AFP

The following day Macron's government unveiled an overhaul of the labour code, a signature reform that will test his ability to force through business-friendly changes and face down protests.

He sees overhauling France's rigid labour regulations as key to tackling a French unemployment rate which is currently 9.5 percent — roughly twice the level of Britain or Germany.
   
The news from the pollsters was little better for Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whose popularity rate fell to 32 percent from 37 percent, according to the YouGov findings published Monday.
 
Macron has promised a change in strategy for the months ahead which will see him give more interviews to explain why he sees his reforms as necessary, having been accused of being too remote at the start of his term.
   
He said last month, during a trip to Romania, that the French people “hated reforms”, but that he was proposing a “transformation” to fire up the country's economy and make it a leader in Europe.
   
The pollsters questioned 1,003 people on August 28 and 29, before both the Le Point interview with Macron and the unveiling, on Thursday, of the planned labour overhaul.

 

EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron to make live TV broadcast to France

French president Emmanuel Macron will make a live TV broadcast to the nation about the war in Ukraine.

Macron to make live TV broadcast to France

Macron will be on TV on Wednesday at 8pm, the Elysée confirmed earlier on Wednesday.

Macron also tweeted the announcement, saying that his speech will be on the subject of the war in Ukraine.

His office added that the president’s speech “will not touch on other matters” – Macron has only until Friday to confirm whether or not he is running for re-election.

It is widely considered to be extremely unlikely that he would not stand in the April elections, but all candidates have until Friday, March 4th, to make their declaration.

Macron’s team had previously announced a rally in Marseille on Saturday, March 5th, which was expected to be the first official campaign event, but on Tuesday this was cancelled because of the ongoing international crisis.

Macron was at the forefront of international efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, and since Russia invaded Ukraine he has remained in close contact with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and has also spoken – at the request of Zelensky – to Russian premier Vladimir Putin.

 
The Local will be following Macron’s speech live from 8pm HERE.
SHOW COMMENTS