150,000 people or more have signed a petition against the move that would give Brigitte Macron an office, staff and an allowance from the public purse. Macron’s popularity has continued to drop since the beginning of his leadership in the country. Sources say that the french people have stated that they are not happy with his government. Polls last month showed he had dropped seven percentage points with only 36% of French people saying they were happy with their new leader. At the same period in their mandate Macron’s predecessors François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy were at 56% at 66% respectively. Earlier on his presidential campaign, Macron promised to “clarify” the role of the French president’s wife by giving them an official status, describing the current situation as a “kind of French hypocrisy”. Artist and author Thierry Paul Valette, who is solely behind the petition, said: “There is no reason why the wife of the head of state should be given a budget out of public funds. At present, Brigitte Macron has two or three assistants as well as two secretaries and two security staff, and that’s enough.”
He further said any decision should be made by referendum and not presidential decree. “It’s for the French people and no other to decide who represents them. However, more than 65% are against the creation of a special status for Brigitte Macron.” He added that the petition was not a personal assault on Madame Macron or her abilities and “ferociously criticised all sexist attacks” on the first lady. “That said, at a time when French public life is being moralised, at a time when a decree banning MPs from employing members of their family is being voted … we cannot decently approve of an initiative giving President Macron’s wife a specific status.” Daniel Fasquelle of the centre-right Les Républicains party said on Friday said that Macron was paying for his inexperience. “He’s not up to the job, either in his behaviour or in addressing the issues, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment