French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday began a nationwide tour ahead of next year’s presidential election, in a risky repeat of previous meet-and-greet initiatives that saw him heckled by angry voters.
The 43-year-old centrist, widely expected to seek a second term in polls next April and May, will begin what he has tagged the task of ‘measuring the country’s pulse’ in picturesque villages in southwest France.
Africa Today News, New York understands that around a dozen, stops are planned over the next two months, in a sign that the former investment banker has an eye on regional elections on June 20 and 27, as well as his own personal political test next year.
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Recent polls show him as the frontrunner in the presidential race, narrowly ahead of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, while his personal ratings have improved as France emerges from its third national coronavirus lockdown.
His Republic on the Move party, which has struggled to build a presence outside of cities, is expected to perform poorly in the regional vote, however.
Macron has undertaken several other tours since his 2017 electoral triumph over the traditional parties of government on the left and right.
A 2018 trip to mark the centenary of the end of World War I is best remembered for the scenes of furious citizens booing and heckling France’s youngest post-war leader.
It took place just as “yellow vest” protests were gathering momentum to denounce the government’s policies and the head of state personally for his leadership style, which was criticised as aloof and arrogant.
The global Covid-19 pandemic has also restricted his travel and ability to focus on any political initiatives beyond short-term crisis management for the last 14 months.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK