• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Europe
  4. Macron to launch re-election campaign amidst heavy criticism
Europe

Macron to launch re-election campaign amidst heavy criticism

  • By Al Mayadeen net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 30 Mar 2022 09:23

After the pressures of war in Ukraine limited his campaigning in France, the French President saw a drop in the polls.

  • Macron's election campaign begins
    Posters of Emmanuel Macron (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron plans to launch his re-election campaign this week with walkabouts outside Paris and a rally within the city after the diplomatic demands of the Ukraine crisis limited his campaigning at home, leading to a drop in the polls and concerns about a poor turnout.

Macron is hoping to secure his re-election and has recently faltered two to three points in polls, with far-right Marine Le Pen inching closer.

The upcoming 10 days of campaigning are expected to be tense and perilous due to resentment about rising living costs, disappointment with the level of campaign discourse, and politics in general.

Macron said he couldn't do many rallies due to his participation in summits and diplomatic efforts concerning Ukraine. 

Macron, who came to power in 2017 on the promise of transforming France with a new style of politics that was neither left nor right, is polling at around 27 percent in the first round, with Le Pen polling at around 17 percent. Le Pen is gaining popularity following a ferocious campaign against France's rising living costs.

In the final round runoff on April 24, the outcome is expected to be far closer than when he won with 66 percent five years ago, with one survey this week placing Macron at 53 percent to Le Pen's 47 percent.

Four in ten people who say they will vote are still unsure who they would vote for, adding to the uncertainty.

Most French people trust Macron to lead on the problem of Ukraine's war, but his presidential challengers on the right and left nonetheless accuse him of dodging the political discourse at home.

According to polls, the features of his manifesto that have remained in voters' minds are his initiatives on the right - increasing the retirement age to 65 and mandating jobless people to work or train 15 to 20 hours each week. Macron's support from the center-left, which was critical for his victory in 2017, has decreased, while his support from the center-right has increased.

According to analysts, Macron - whose early labor and tax changes earned him the moniker "president of the rich" – must demonstrate that he is listening to people on the ground and their problems. On a recent local radio call-in, a lady working in the health care system said Macron "wasn't there for us." Following that, in a behind-the-scenes video for his campaign, he expressed regret that she felt that way, adding he'd heard the same type of thing "in lots of places."

Opposition politicians like Marine Le Pen, leftist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and far-right TV analyst Éric Zemmour have slammed Macron over a senate study revealing that French ministries more than quadrupled their spending on multinational consulting companies such as McKinsey & Company between 2018 and last year.

Macron's administration has been accused of spending millions of dollars for assistance on what has been seen as a delayed deployment of Covid vaccinations. Yannick Jadot, the Green Party's candidate, branded it "indecent" to pay private advisers. Macron stated that all contracts followed the regulations.

According to Stewart Chau, a sociologist and consultant at pollsters ViaVoice, Macron's current polling remains higher than his first-round score of 24 percent five years ago.

  • Paris
  • Eric Zemmour
  • French elections
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Marine Le Pen
  • France

Trending Now

All
Presidential elections in France may have historically low turn-out

Presidential elections in France may have historically low turn-out

Most Read

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

  • Analysis
  • 28 May
In this image released by the Italian firefighters, a helicopter searches for missing passengers after a tourist boat capsized in a storm on Italy's Lago Maggiore in the northern Lombardy region, May 28, 2023 (AP)

Top Israeli intelligence official dead in Italy: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 29 May
The domestically produced C919 passenger jet flies at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Peoeple's Republic of China, 8 November 2022. (Reuters)

China is set to launch first commercial flight on its C919 plane

  • Asia
  • 26 May
Saudi Arabia's Hawiyah Natural Gas Liquids Recovery Plant which is operated by ARAMCO. (AP)

Tensions between Riyadh and Moscow on the rise due to oil prices: WSJ

  • MENA
  • 28 May

Read this

All
Pop artist Andy Warhol in New York, the United States, 1976 (AP)
US & Canada

Art dealer sentenced to 25 months for selling fake Andy Warhol works

  • Today
Former President Donald Trump watches the first round of the LIV Golf Tournament at Trump National Golf Club, Friday, May 26, 2023, in Sterling, Va. (AP)
US & Canada

New tape leaked of Trump speaking of classified information: CNN

  • Today
Hamid Nouri
MENA

Hamid Nouri breaks record for solitary confinement in Sweden

  • Today
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy listens at a news conference after the House passed the debt ceiling bill at the Capitol in Washington, May 31, 2023 (AP)
US & Canada

Debt ceiling bill overwhelmingly passes US House

  • Today
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS