Recently, French President Macron said in an interview that he now prefers to focus on governance, but he has not officially announced his candidacy in next year’s French presidential election.
According to an AFP report on December 16, Macron said that he would continue to implement measures such as the Labor Law Reform Act, tax cuts and pension reform, but he admitted that some measures “anxiety the public”, such as the Labor Development Reform Act, which is intended to make the labor law more “flexible” in handling labor relations. Employers were given more power, but they were opposed by labor groups. Therefore, he said that he would adjust the inappropriateness accordingly, but the goal of the reform would not change. However, he did not officially announce his candidacy in next year’s presidential election in the interview.
According to AFP analysis, Macron’s sudden interview is likely to be related to Republican presidential candidate Pecrez’s strong momentum in recent polls. At the beginning of his election as President of France in 2017, Macron said, “I’m not interested in journalists. What interests me is the French people.” Therefore, the French media believes that he intends to keep a distance from the media. However, because of Pecres’ recent performance in the poll, he decided to give an interview and think he was building momentum. According to data released by pollster Elabe on December 7, Pecrez’s approval rating in the first round of voting was 20%, followed by Macron; in the second round of voting, she defeated Macron 52% to 48%. However, the recent data of Ifop-Fiducial, another pollster, show that Pecres’s 17% approval rating is still far lower than Macron’s 25%, but it is the same as Le Pen, the National League candidate.
AFP pointed out that Macron’s delay in announcing his candidacy may be related to France’s presidency of the European Union next year, in addition to his own decision. From January 1, 2022, France will hold the rotating presidency of the European Union for a period of six months. On December 9th local time, Macron announced the priorities of the French presidency, covering the EU’s external borders, fiscal deficits, climate change and other issues. Therefore, in addition to the general election in April next year, Macron has to face and deal with EU-related affairs.
