Despite his arrogance and unpopularity,
Macron expected to be re-elected for a second term
The first election campaign that brought Macron to power.
AFP
Marine Le Pen came second in the opinion poll.
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While he was sipping coffee at the Bar Dusport café in the modest town of Toner in the central French city of Burgundy, retired French police officer Denis Dever was looking at the French presidential election campaign with little enthusiasm, and said, "It is clear that the current president Emmanuel Macron will win this position again.” The 75-year-old added, “I don’t like him, he is a very arrogant person.
But there is no one else who can do this work.”
With the first round of elections set for April 10, Devir's words seem to touch the mood of voters who seem ready to give Macron, 44, a second term, after taking a look at who they are challenging and deciding that no one else can be trusted. To lead the country in a time of crisis.
Polls
The poll indicated that Macron won 27% of the vote, while right-wing Marine Le Pen, 53, got 20% of the vote, hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, 70, 14%, and anti-Muslim candidate Eric Zemmour. , (63 years), 10%.
The contender on the center-right was far behind those contenders.
"Can you imagine one of these people in the presidency?" DeVere said after completing the paperwork to raise his pension.
They don't know how to act.”
In theory, Toner is a fertile ground for Macron's opponents.
It sits in a valley amid the magnificent vineyards that produce the famous Burgundy wines, but the town itself is destined for decline.
A factory that employed 1,300 videographers was closed in 2002, after factory managers failed to deal with the development and new and better ways of watching movies at home.
A dairy facility where a fine cheese is made shuts down seven years after the video factory closed, with 145 people losing their jobs.
Economic recovery
Although much of France enjoyed an economic boom during Macron's presidency, with the unemployment rate dropping to 7.4%, the lowest rate in 17 years, Tonner exemplifies the rural towns considered forgotten.
Over the past two decades, the town's population has decreased from 6000 to 4,600 people, and 26% of the town's residents live below the poverty line, and 24% of them do not have jobs.
Although the town center was once prosperous, 40% of its shops are now empty, and its grey, filthy facades offer a depressing spectacle for a town that, in theory, should offer an allure on the banks of the Burgundy Canal.
Macron has tried to address this issue through several initiatives such as "Small Towns of Tomorrow", which is a program to invest three billion euros, in places such as "Tonner", but the town's mayor, Cedric Clic, says that in practice these initiatives require the government to pay 75 % of salary, for two town council employees, who probably won't be able to revive their town.
yellow jackets
When protests erupted against Macron's presidency in 2018, locals in several towns quickly donned the yellow vests, which became a symbol of what Macron's critics saw as widening the gap between wealthy Parisians and tax- and low-wage rural areas.
Although the protests against Macron have ended, the discontent and anger at him has not.
“Parisian politicians are the ones who are killing shops and small businesses, as a result of the taxes they impose on people,” said Bruno, 60, who works as a waiter and declined to give his full name. «10 euros per box», which he considered «public theft» and the influx of people from Bulgaria after their country became a member of the European Union in 2007.
I'm not racist
"The British were right when they left the European Union," Bruno said, deceiving social security for African refugees.
"I'm not a racist, but all Africans get salaries from Social Security, and for their children who may not even exist, while people here struggle to make a living by working," Bruno added.
After paying your bills for fuel, electricity, gas and taxes, it will be better for you to stay home and live on benefits.
This is the problem that France suffers from.
I am sure it does not exist in Britain.
His views are consistent with that of candidate Zeymore, a political novice who is trying to achieve what President Donald Trump has tried to do in the United States.
But neither Bruno nor DeVere, who agrees with most of what Bruno said, are likely to vote for Zemore.
"He talks sensibly, but I'm not convinced of him as president," said DeVere, who made it clear he might not vote for anyone, referring to Zemore.
The difficulty for Macron's rivals is that many anti-democratic voters tend to reject democratic representatives outright.
They say that changing the president will not change much in their lives, or in the country overall.
A recent poll, for example, revealed that 39% of the population would prefer an unelected, strong president in power.
Conspiracy theory
Take, for example, Crome Burgundy worker Pascal Rousselet, 52, who tacitly endorses the much-heard conspiracy theory that Macron was a shadow-elite puppet.
"The elections are a hoax," said Rousselet.
I do not know where Macron came from, what he wants, and for whom he works.
All I know is that he does not like the French people.”
He added that he would vote for that little guy with glasses on, and I don't remember his name (he means Zemour), but not because I like him, but rather to oppose Macron.
Trying to get equipment to work in his vineyards from a shop in Toner, Rousselet said his real wish was to return to the monarchy that ruled France until the date of the French Revolution in 1789, rejecting the form of constitutional monarchy, as in the United Kingdom. "We do not need an absolute ruler like the old regimes," he said.
• The difficulty facing Macron's rivals is that many voters opposed to him tend to reject representatives of democracy comprehensively. They say that changing the president will not change much in their lives, or in the country overall. A recent poll revealed that 39% of the population would prefer an unelected and strong president in power.
• When protests erupted against Macron's presidency in 2018, locals in several towns quickly donned yellow jackets, which became a symbol of what Macron's critics saw as widening the gap between wealthy Parisians and rural areas burdened with taxes and low salaries.
• Although most of France enjoyed an economic recovery during Macron's presidency, as the unemployment rate fell to 7.4%, which is the lowest rate in 17 years, Toner represents the model of rural towns that were considered forgotten. The town's population has decreased over the past two decades from 6,000 to 4,600 people.
Adam Sage ■ The Times correspondent in Paris
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