The announcement of Emmanuel Macron's candidacy brings the campaign into a new phase that his opponents were impatiently awaiting. But the question is how the pres…

Which presidential campaign for Emmanuel Macron?

President Emmanuel Macron formalized his candidacy for a second term on Thursday March 3 in a "Letter to the French".

REUTERS - PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW

Text by: Valérie Gas Follow

3 mins

The announcement of Emmanuel Macron's candidacy brings the campaign into a new phase that his opponents were impatiently awaiting.

But the question is how the outgoing president will participate in the electoral battle.

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A flash campaign, a "

constrained

" campaign, the teams around Emmanuel Macron have already integrated that they would have to "

adapt

The president's men are ready: the secretary general of the Élysée, Alexis Kohler, the communication adviser Clément Léonarduzzi, Julien Denormandie is prepositioned to become campaign director and should leave the government, like Sébastien Lecornu or Gabriel Attal, called to join the campaign headquarters.

A small reshuffle could therefore take place following these changes, certainly with a reallocation of portfolios to other ministers already in government.

Sobriety

The war in Ukraine

upended all plans for the campaign by making sobriety an imperative.

First on the form of the ad.

The choice of a letter published in the regional daily press aimed to be close and not to interfere with the solemn address delivered the day before by Emmanuel Macron, Head of State and only Head of State, to inform the French on the situation in Ukraine.

Sobriety also for the media version of the entry into the campaign, at this stage no interview planned just a message on social networks which should follow the letter to the French, explains the entourage of the candidate.

For ground movements, everything is moving, nothing is set in stone.

The first meeting which should have taken place in Marseille this weekend has been postponed for at least a week.

A trip is planned for Monday in the Paris region.

But it is the president who has priority over the candidate.

He will campaign "

when his agenda allows him

", confides a close friend who adds: "

But a campaign can live in a full way

", for example with "

ambassadors

Not sure that this will delight his opponents who have been waiting for his entry into the campaign for months to confront him and hold him to account on his balance sheet.

A part-time campaign

his letter to the French

, Emmanuel Macron evokes his campaign apologetically: "

I will not be able to campaign as I would have liked because of the context

And by making a

minimum

promise : “

But with clarity and commitment, I will explain our project

”.

A project which will integrate the lessons of the various crises experienced during the five-year term and in particular the last one, the war in Ukraine because, according to a minister, "

this crisis validates what he has been saying for a long time about sovereignty

Emmanuel Macron will lead a part-time campaign but in which he leaves with an advantage: all the polls give him a clear lead in the voting intentions for the first round and winner in the second round.

His challenge will be to ensure that the trend does not reverse by keeping his two hats of president and candidate.

As a member of his team explains, he will have to reconcile two objectives: “

The president must protect, the candidate must propose.

► Also to listen: Aurore Bergé: "The context means that Emmanuel Macron must remain president until the last moment"

Which presidential campaign for Emmanuel Macron?

Which presidential campaign for Emmanuel Macron?

Sobriety

A part-time campaign

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