For a leader given to dramatic flourishes—a jaw-dropping Louvre backdrop for his 2017 election night, an open-topped military ride to his inauguration—French President Emmanuel Macron made quite the statement in early March, when he announced his run for reelection in total silence. In a simple letter published in French newspapers, he addressed his “dear compatriots” with uncharacteristic humility: “I am seeking your trust again.”
So began one of the oddest campaigns the French can recall—if a campaign it even is. Macron’s 11 rivals in the first-round vote on April 10 have spent months sniping and cannibalizing each other’s support. The run-off on April 24 looks likely to be a rematch of 2017, with Macron against far-right Marine Le Pen. He seems set to hand her another bruising defeat.
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Yet the French leader has glided above the fray for months. Macron’s rocket-ride to power five years ago, at 39, stunned Europe and crushed France’s mainstream Republican and Socialist parties. This time around, Macron, now 44, has opted to play the president, not the candidate—a man arguably too busy solving major crises, like the war in Ukraine, to focus on street-level politics. “It seems over before it has even begun,” Le Monde declared of the “phantom campaign.”
With Macron’s victory seeming a sure thing, he has appeared to watch the election unfold from afar with remarkable ease. He was even photographed unshaven in his ornate office, wearing jeans and a military-issue hoodie. It was a startling break from his tailored suits—and widely seen as a nod to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, a few weeks his junior, whose viral appearances get plenty of French airtime.
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Source : time
