French President Emmanuel Macron (Republic on the March), 44, is the favorite to win the second presidential race of his life, according to polls. Macron could be France’s first re-elected head of state in 20 years. Elections take place this Sunday (10).
Before running for, and winning, the 2017 elections, Emmanuel Macron was an investment banker. It is formed by the country’s elite schools.
According to the Ifop Institute, on April 6, President Macron was leading the race, with 27% of voting intentions. Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen followed with 23.5%.
If the projection comes true, the French will go to the polls again on April 24, choosing between the two candidates with the most votes.
Despite being a member of left-wing parties in his youth, Macron is considered a centrist politician. Based on this position, a year before being victorious for president of the Republic, he founded the party “La République En Marche” (Republic on the March).
“It doesn’t matter if they come from the left, from the right, from the center, from ecology or from anywhere else: all that counts is our common desire for progress in the service of the general interest”, defines the movement itself.
According to party information, at least 400,000 members currently make up the organization.
Historic
Born in the city of Amiens, in the French countryside, the current president studied Philosophy and graduated in 2004 from the National School of Administration (ENA). He worked for four years at the Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF), before joining the banking sector.
Between 2012 and 2014, he served as Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic. From 2014 to 2016 he was Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital.
At the age of 16, he fell in love with Brigitte Trogneux – his then drama teacher, 24 years his senior. Despite the family and social controversies generated by the unlikely romance, Macron and Brigitte have been together ever since.
“My base, my refuge. Our children and stepchildren, and our seven grandchildren,” says the president about the family on the government’s official website.
first term
As for all world leaders in the last two years, the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the main challenges of Emmanuel Macron’s term. Between the back and forth of lockdowns, sanitary measures, mask requirements and implementation of the vaccination campaign, the president faced the wrath of the opposition.
Before the health crisis, at the beginning of the term, a wave of protests invaded France. The “yellow vests” movement took thousands of people to the streets, triggered by a measure by Macron that raised the price of diesel at the end of 2018.
For this year, Macron would have refused to debate with opponents and invested little in campaigning. Still, he held firm at number one in the polls, albeit with an eventual runoff possibly more contested than in 2017.
Among the proposals of the current campaign, the president announced the promise of increasing the pension to the age of 65, reforms in unemployment insurance and the job market, relaunch of nuclear reactors, in addition to investment in ecological energy and the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050
Source: CNN Brasil
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