PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macaron said on Tuesday he would step down in a sign that the president's tough reformist policy and a wave of political scandals and street protests began to touch his close circle just a year and a half after he took office.
Government ministers said Silvan Faure, who drafted the McCron campaign and wrote some of his most important speeches, would leave the Elysee Palace "for personal reasons."
"After two and a half years of hard work at the service of the candidate and then the president, I hope to pursue my other professional and personal projects and above all devote more time to my family," Fur said.
His resignation comes after the departure of Macaron's political adviser at the end of last year to lead the election campaign of the ruling party in the European Parliament. There have been rumors in the French media that other advisers close to the president may also be preparing to leave.
In a private debate, McCron's aides say the pace of reforms, the president's excessive activity and his many foreign visits are among the reasons that have begun to affect even his most devoted.
In a New Year speech, Macaron pledged to move ahead with economic reform plans. Macron's popularity was a record low.
"In the past few years, we have been engaged in a flagrant denial of reality: we can not work less and gain more, we can not cut taxes and increase spending," he said.