Macron Is In Free Fall, Is The End In Sight?

French President Emmanuel Macron is in a free fall. Is the end in Sight for the man whose meteoric rise shocked the world in 2016?

Though his party lost badly and trailed in most areas during mid-term polling, it is hard to pronounce a definite death of Macron’s career.

However, there is little doubt that Macron is in deep trouble, losing so badly in the recent polls in France. The results place his frozen party (it is inactive mostly) far below the most serious contenders.

But it is not the results that interest us here. It is purely the slide in Macron’s fortunes. He made dramatic dash to power in the last presidential elections. Only to slowly loose his grip on power with numerous mistakes and unpardonable political faux pas (missteps).

WHO WILL TOPPLE HIM?

Both the Centre-Right and the Socialists did well in the first round of voting in French regional elections on June 20th. The elections were postponed twice because of the pandemic. The Far Right has a slim lead in one region and winning it will cement Mrs Marine Le Pen a populist, anti-immigrant politician and leader of the National Rally,

But that does not mean Macron should have been trounced just like that. Being the president should have impacted the results in favour of his candidates. No. All of them lost in all 13 regions.

For many, this is a great day for democracy. Macron flattened, in free fall, it will now be hard. Harder still for him to present a clean, lean and mean face to the electorate in the next Presidentials. To say we expected his free fall would not be exaggerated.

But again, who will be the favourite for the next presidential elections. The local media in France has a new favourite: Xavier Bertrand, the centre-right sitting regional president. He is a former government minister and a rival for the presidency next year.