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Macron so unpopular, he is told to avoid campaigning
Members of the alliance have referred to the moves as operation ‘de-Macronisation’
Emmanuel Macron has been asked to avoid the campaign trail in France because he is so unpopular.
Since calling the snap parliamentary election on June 9, the French president has been largely absent from the airwaves or public rallies.
His own centrist Together coalition has removed his face from campaigning literature in light of his poor approval ratings. Members of the alliance have referred to the moves as operation “de-Macronisation”.
Bruno Millienne, an outgoing MP for Yvelines, said in a French TV interview: “Yes, I told the Élysée, he is hated on the ground. And we’re paying dearly for this detestation and it’s unfair.”
Mr Millienne is one of 224 candidates who have pulled out from Sunday’s run-off. Most of the withdrawals are tactical manoeuvres on the Left and Centre, aimed at avoiding three-way races and blocking Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN).
“The ‘de-Macronisation’ of France is underway. I regret it, but that’s the way it is,” he added on Instagram.
Alarmed by the amount of negative reactions to Mr Macron’s face on election leaflets, senior party members had asked the president, behind closed doors, to step back from the spotlight in the act of self-preservation. One unnamed minister told Le Parisien that the reaction among voters upon seeing the president’s face on campaign literature during the European elections, was “Oh, no, not him.”
