Macron’s Popularity at Lowest since 2019

The popularity of French president Emmanuel Macron is at its lowest since 2019, the year of arm-twisting with the yellow-vested protesters.
March figures by Ifop, a leading company in opinion polls, show that only 28% of French citizens are satisfied with Macron’s performance (-4 points compared to February).
The survey collected data from a sample of 1,928 people, aged 18 and over, via online questionnaires and phone calls.
This growing discontent is due mainly to a very unpopular pension reform plan which stipulates that retirement age should be brought from 62 to 64.
Trade unions vowed to push the government scrap the controversial law and called on millions of unhappy citizens, from all walks of life, to take to streets.
Demos, which broke out of control, paralyzed vital sectors of the French economy. Over the past weeks, the losses that were suffered by France are estimated at millions of euros.
However, the government chose to quell the disturbances and move ahead with the problematic pension reform proposal.
In addition, the French executive resorted to bypassing all procedures put in place to ensure the democratic model of checks and balances. It used a loophole in the French constitution called article 49:3 which allows the government to pass a bill without a vote. This means that the legal and legitimate representatives of the French people have no say over this matter.
The parliament is retaliating Monday by scheduling two motions on no-confidence vote against the cabinet. If successful, this parliamentary procedure would nullify the pension reform plan. But, if not, the bill will become a law despite all opposing voices from streets, factories, schools and, of course, from the legislative institution.