The Fort Worth Press - Eyeing new term, Macron walks tightrope on vaccinations

USD -
AED 3.67295
AFN 69.901592
ALL 94.336007
AMD 393.250352
ANG 1.79454
AOA 918.000323
ARS 1022.26969
AUD 1.602898
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.69884
BAM 1.874072
BBD 2.010521
BDT 118.990811
BGN 1.880205
BHD 0.377128
BIF 2943.915831
BMD 1
BND 1.352325
BOB 6.880923
BRL 6.117303
BSD 0.995774
BTN 84.654229
BWP 13.762804
BYN 3.258689
BYR 19600
BZD 2.00161
CAD 1.440589
CDF 2870.000285
CHF 0.896802
CLF 0.035945
CLP 991.819883
CNY 7.299198
CNH 7.30906
COP 4390
CRC 502.39074
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.658298
CZK 24.191968
DJF 177.317197
DKK 7.174255
DOP 60.635678
DZD 134.820214
EGP 51.097102
ERN 15
ETB 124.126733
EUR 0.962031
FJD 2.31865
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.79805
GEL 2.809853
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.637652
GIP 0.791982
GMD 71.999842
GNF 8602.830559
GTQ 7.672406
GYD 208.324949
HKD 7.76969
HNL 25.276684
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.26897
HUF 399.050338
IDR 16179.65
ILS 3.64765
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.12765
IQD 1304.414484
IRR 42087.502849
ISK 139.590185
JEP 0.791982
JMD 155.795747
JOD 0.709097
JPY 156.9345
KES 129.250157
KGS 87.000275
KHR 4001.494811
KMF 466.124988
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1453.329981
KWD 0.30816
KYD 0.829812
KZT 522.944395
LAK 21794.540106
LBP 89168.367494
LKR 292.350591
LRD 180.728433
LSL 18.332231
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.892632
MAD 10.021656
MDL 18.341143
MGA 4698.115196
MKD 59.212964
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 7.97156
MRU 39.601
MUR 46.849672
MVR 15.368539
MWK 1726.205872
MXN 20.140145
MYR 4.490183
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.332231
NGN 1546.449867
NIO 36.642041
NOK 11.34665
NPR 135.44715
NZD 1.772091
OMR 0.384998
PAB 0.995774
PEN 3.707899
PGK 4.037907
PHP 58.597502
PKR 277.163787
PLN 4.109788
PYG 7764.394745
QAR 3.629996
RON 4.786798
RSD 112.556962
RUB 100.225033
RWF 1388.066423
SAR 3.75665
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.944298
SDG 601.501973
SEK 11.0485
SGD 1.357215
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.802932
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 569.08232
SRD 35.130964
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.713025
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.327728
THB 34.268009
TJS 10.893341
TMT 3.51
TND 3.172929
TOP 2.342098
TRY 35.218085
TTD 6.758272
TWD 32.711038
TZS 2407.501015
UAH 41.761098
UGX 3652.705513
UYU 44.413143
UZS 12838.129186
VES 51.479441
VND 25450
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 628.546104
XAG 0.033734
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.759575
XOF 628.546104
XPF 114.276406
YER 250.375014
ZAR 18.437355
ZMK 9001.198491
ZMW 27.557229
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

Eyeing new term, Macron walks tightrope on vaccinations
Eyeing new term, Macron walks tightrope on vaccinations

Eyeing new term, Macron walks tightrope on vaccinations

Emmanuel Macron's uncompromising stance against the unvaccinated has drawn praise from supporters, but his combative Covid strategy could backfire in a French presidential election that is far from a foregone conclusion.

Text size:

The former investment banker is betting his tough stance on jabs -- combined with plans to start lifting Covid restrictions in February -- will ensure broad support when he seeks a second five-year term in April.

Macron's blunt comments earlier this month that he wanted to "piss off" the unvaccinated marked a new level in his impatience with those unwilling to fall in line with his vaccination push.

But despite high approval ratings of his handling of the crisis, including a new requirement of full vaccination to enter most public venues, there are signs his divisive comments could backfire.

"It's an advantage for Macron, he can play up the success of his vaccination drive," said Emile Leclerc, director of research at polling firm Odoxa, noting France's more than 80 percent vaccination rate overall.

"His forceful language has been effective."

But an Odoxa poll published Tuesday saw Macron's approval ratings slump six points to just 39 percent, the lowest in nine months -- a clear response to his outburst against the unvaccinated.

"For some people there's still a very strong perception, even if not shared by everyone, of a president who's a bit arrogant," Leclerc told AFP.

The pugnacious phrase was the latest example of a "transgressive style" that has punctuated his presidency, Giuliano da Empoli, a political scientist who teaches at Sciences Po Paris.

"It's clear he is not going to give up on an element that constitutes a large part of his success," he wrote in French daily Le Monde.

Yet if the health crisis does ease, Macron may find it harder to maintain support as issues like inflation and weakened spending power, or security and immigration, return to the fore.

"This crisis is like a pressure cooker -- as long as it's tightly closed, everything's fine, but all of a sudden if you open it a bit, the thing could explode," Leclerc said.

Support among his centre-right base remains steady, and most experts expect Macron will easily make it to the second round of voting.

But if his run-off rival is the conservative Valerie Pecresse instead of the extreme right's Marine Le Pen, Macron's success in getting 80 percent of the country vaccinated might not carry him over the line.

"If it's Pecresse he's going to have a much harder time attracting a wider electorate, because he'll have to be much more courteous and consensual," said Jean Viard, a veteran sociologist and former municipal councillor in Marseille.

- Crunch time -

Pecresse, a former budget minister whose emergence as a top threat to Macron surprised pundits, has criticised of Macron's "contemptuous" governance a cornerstone of her campaign, vowing to "repair and unite the country" in his place.

That promise of fresh air could resonate among voters anxious for a return to normalcy after two years of Covid, including centre-left moderates dismayed by the disintegration of the Socialist party.

In a race where high abstention rates are again expected to inject volatility, an Ipsos poll on Saturday found that left-wing voters appear far less likely to vote for Macron -- dubbed early on "president of the rich" -- in a runoff.

Just 24 percent of supporters of the firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who currently scores highest on the left, said they would back Macron this time around, while only two-thirds of Socialist or Greens voters said they would.

Viard noted as well that "older people vote the most for Macron, but they could very well stay home over fears of catching Covid."

Macron has said he "wants" another term but has not yet declared his candidacy, and press reports suggest he will put it off as long as possible, considering that a first-round victory is all locked up.

But as Leclerc at Odoxa said: "A new phase in the campaign is opening -- his popularity is falling, and lots can still happen in the next two months."

B.Martinez--TFWP