The “hundred days of appeasement” promised by the President of the Republic have not taken place if we are to believe the vast majority of French people. According to the latest Odoxa-Backbone Consulting poll carried out for Le Figaro, 78% believe that Emmanuel Macron has not reached his goal by July 14. No less than 43% of those questioned consider that his project has “not at all” been carried out. Only Renaissance sympathizers make a dissonant voice heard, since they are 61% to consider the “hundred days” operation as a success.
Unconvinced by the performance of the executive, 75% of respondents believe that the government has made little or no progress on the objectives set. As a reminder, Emmanuel Macron had launched in the spring “three priority projects”: “work”, “justice and republican and democratic order” and “progress for better living”. Predictable result in the aftermath of the riots, justice and order are the areas for which the French are the most severe. They are thus 81% to think that the government has “fairly little” or “not at all” advanced in the matter. It should be noted that the improvement of the health system (79%), progress in National Education (80%) or the improvement of wages and working conditions (76%) give rise to similar assessments.
While Emmanuel Macron could consolidate Élisabeth Borne in her post as Prime Minister, 65% of French people believe that the Head of State should change tenants at Matignon. A request for reshuffling which amounted to 57% last year and which has increased since the end of the sequence of retirements. This time, the consensus is established from left to right, without taking into account the sympathizers of the presidential party. If the latter are 70% to wish the maintenance of Elisabeth Borne, they are 52% to ask for her departure at LR, 55% at the PS, 75% at LFI and 81% at the RN.
Within the government, only two ministers seem to escape the disapproval of the French. This is the case of Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces. 34% of those questioned want him to remain in government, while 26% want him to leave. Better known, the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, does not unite more than he divides. If 37% of respondents want the tenant of Bercy to stay in place, they are just as much to disavow it. The opinion of the respondents is much clearer concerning the fate of the other ministers, in particular the heavyweights of the government who concentrate the dissatisfaction of the French. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin thus sees 46% of French people opposing its maintenance, while 31% are in favor of it. The sentence is even more severe for the Keeper of the Seals, Éric Dupont-Moretti (27% against 51%), the Minister of National Education and Marlène Schiappa, the most unpopular (14% against 59%).
While riots engulfed the country for a week, Emmanuel Macron’s break with the traditional July 14 presidential interview is displeasing. 60% of French people would have liked the resident of the Élysée to speak on television. In April, the president had already set an appointment on the day of the national holiday to draw up “an initial assessment”. The violence of the riots has amplified the desire of the French to see the president honor his commitment. Although the time does not yet seem to be on the record, Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday: “I said that I will make a point around July 14, I reassure you, I will make a point around July 14. But I have given you neither the date nor the form, and I will give them in due time.”