PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron announced a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday morning, widely seen as an attempt to stabilize a historic drop in popularity and an increasing sense of political isolation.
For nearly two weeks, France has not had a full government, following a series of surprise resignations after the summer, each of which served as a major blow to Macron’s public image and ability to govern effectively. But on Tuesday, under mounting pressure, the 40-year-old president announced a new roster of names.
The changes were not extensive, which led many to question why the announcement had taken so long. The choices were also not entirely unpredictable: Christophe Castaner, who ran Macron’s political party, was given the post of interior minister, overseeing national security, one of the most important in the French government. While Macron also named new culture and agriculture ministers, other important postings were left as they were.
The news did little to quell a sense of panic in the presidential Élysée Palace.
“He won with a mix of luck, intuition and audacity — today he has less luck, and he has made some noteworthy mistakes,” said Gilles Finchelstein, the director of the Jean Jaures Foundation, a Paris-based think tank with ties to the Socialist Party but also to Macron’s campaign.
There are indeed signs that Macron’s luck — once seemingly bottomless — may be dwindling. In recent weeks, for example, two high-profile resignations caught the young president off guard.
In late August, Nicolas Hulot, his exceedingly popular environment minister and a former television personality, announced in a live radio broadcast that he would leave the government. Hulot blamed a disconnect between Macron’s words and deeds on climate change, which Macron — in a series of grand, wide-ranging speeches — had sought to make one of his signature policy commitments.
“Have we begun to reduce the use of pesticides? The answer is no,” Hulot said during that broadcast. “Have we started to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The answer is no. Or to stop the erosion of biodiversity? No.”
In September, Gerard Collomb, France’s interior minister, also resigned, but arguably with an even sharper critique. Collomb, 71, attacked what he called Macron’s “lack of humility.” In a television interview in early September, he used the language of antiquity to cast Macron as a tragic hero.
“Hubris, it’s the curse of the gods,” Collomb said, “when, at some point, you become too sure of yourself, that you think you will take it all away.”
More than a year into his presidency, Macron is still often viewed from abroad as the antithesis of President Trump. The young, photogenic French president is a globalist who has forcefully condemned nationalism and populism, advocated for greater European integration and repeatedly called for action on climate change — sometimes in fluent English.
[French environment minister quits with criticism of Macron]
But Macron’s image at home is vastly different, and has been for some time. Within France, Macron is seen as a monarchical figure, and he is often caricatured as the second coming of the ancien régime that ruled before the country’s 1789 revolution.
To some extent, this is par for the course: the French typically turn against their presidents, especially at this point in their five-year tenures. Macron was elected in May 2017 on a wave of optimism, and nearly 18 months later, the sheen has worn off as it did for virtually all other recent French presidents. The difference, however, is that Macron’s once sky-high popularity has now plummeted to a lower level than that of any of his last three predecessors. Few have started as high and fallen so far.
According to a September poll from IFOP, a leading French polling agency, Macron’s popularity is currently at 29 percent, a significant drop from the 34 percent he had in August. The poll was based on a survey of 1,964 people. When Macron was elected in 2017, his approval rating was 66 percent, more than twice his current standing.
For Jérôme Fourquet, a Paris-based political analyst and the director of IFOP, part of the explanation is proximate: The polls dropped significantly over the summer, from 40 percent in June to 29 percent in September, in part due to the August fallout over the “Benalla Affair,” in which a member of Macron’s security detail was caught on camera beating labor reform protesters.
Alexandre Benalla, a security officer and deputy chief of staff to Macron, was wearing police garb without authorization, and the Élysée Palace attempted to cover up the scandal. Macron, Fourquet said, had campaigned on “the promise of exemplary republic” and had pledged a “rupture” between “the old world of politics and a new world that is transparent and proper.” But the Benalla Affair suggested that his presidency was business as usual.
Many French voters call Macron “the president for the rich” and perceive him as out of touch and even arrogant. In September, for instance, Macron told a young unemployed gardener that all he needed to do was cross the street to find a job in a cafe or a restaurant. “If I crossed the street I’d find you one,” Macron said.
“He has not really changed since before he was president, and the same discourse doesn’t work the same way because he is now president of the Republic,” said Finchelstein, referring to Macron’s rhetoric.
“Before, he was direct; he was different from the others. Now it’s that he’s arrogant. The French don’t see him in the same way now that he’s president. All that creates a distance.”
Voters also express concrete concerns. Unemployment in France has not decreased significantly under Macron and currently stands at 8.9 percent. In September, Macron unveiled an 8 billion euro ($9.27 billion) program to combat poverty in France, but critics said the measure — announced more than a year into Macron’s tenure — was not a real priority.
“After a year, it’s the moment to do something,” said Fourquet. “There’s the perception among many voters, ‘It’s time.’ And he has not done much better than the others.”
Read more
Watch Macron’s security aide attack a protester
Macron warned against authoritarianism. In France, he is seen as a liberal strongman.
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