Emmanuel Macron’s performance as President of France during 2023 has been picked apart by pundits, who claimed it was “impossible for him succeed” in the role.
President Macron has been slated for his handling of pension reform and conflict abroad in what was a crisis-filled year for France’s leader.
Macron promised a year of “unity, boldness, collective ambition and benevolence” in his 2022 New Year’s speech to the nation.
However last year a vote of no confidence in his presidency was narrowly defeated, and riots erupted during the summer.
Meanwhile, abroad Macron’s handling of the war in Ukraine and the conflict between Isreal and Hamas has also seen him pushed under pressure.
University of Paris’ Benjamin Morel told Public Sénat: “Emmanuel Macron is like a fly in a jar. He is condemned to spin and flap to keep from sinking.
“But it’s really impossible for him to succeed, because no opposition is prepared to get him out of the situation he finds himself in!”
French political scientist Bruno Cautrès added: “2023 did not provide clear, legible answers to an essential question: where is Emmanuel Macron’s second term of office heading?
“There is no direction. We still don’t know where the priorities are or what the objectives are.”
Meanwhile, Macron has had a difficult start to the New Year as France’s manufacturing sector is in a “downward spiral.”
This assessment comes from a prominent economist in light of recent data showing that the industry is still contracting. The HCOB France Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 42.1 at the end of the year. A reading of less than 50 indicates a contraction in activity, and this was the lowest reading since May 2020.
Unfortunately, the sector’s outlook does not appear to be improving soon, with economists predicting a persistently bleak outlook for the months ahead.
