According to the new poll released after the first 100 days in office, Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has dropped faster than any previous French President.
It seems the French population are “falling out of love” with Macron, the newspaper Le Figaro said as it published the poll that showed only 36 percent approved of his performance. This is compared to the 46 percent approval Hollande received after his first 100 days.
“Overall, scepticism is prevailing. The perception of a five-year term … forms after the first summer” said the Ifop Director Jérôme Fourquet told Le Figaro, who added that Macron must take the poll seriously.
“Even the announcement of the Olympic Games in Paris has not had a positive effect,” he added.
The same series of polls found that Macron’s ratings were as high as 64 percent in late June and 54 per cent in late July – highlighting his fall in popularity has come recently.
The Ifop poll suggests that the series of unpopular policy announcements from the new President including, cutting housing allowance, raising taxes on cigarettes, and increasing social-security contributions, have all decreased the country’s enthusiasm for Macron.
Christophe Castaner, a secretary of state in Mr Macron’s government, said Macron had seen “a hundred useful days, undoubtedly, a hundred days of action which have laid the foundations for a profound transformation of our country”.
Macron’s aides have said that the drop in satisfaction was no surprise. The French population had high expectations for the new President and an impatience for results.
Political analyst Stéphane Rozès said: “From the beginning, he had a very ‘can-do’ attitude, in his own way both conciliatory and respectful,”
“He hosted Trump on July 14. He welcomed Putin to Versailles. He acknowledged their originality and dignity and at the same time got his message across.”