French President Emmanuel Macron, the current presidential favorite in April whose campaign is largely overshadowed by the war in Ukraine, promised Thursday during the presentation of his program a “more independent nation”, in particular on the military level, to defend France in the face of “future crises”, also promising to “invest massively” in agriculture and industry.
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“A more independent nation in a stronger Europe”, launched Emmanuel Macron during a press conference in the Paris region, in an introductory remark started at 3 p.m. “Our societies have to experience the return of crises, the one I mentioned, which we have known, the return of war, on our continent”, he launched.
Three weeks before the presidential election, the Head of State presented around thirty key measures, and began to answer questions from 320 accredited journalists, including several dozen international media.
AFP
France is experiencing a presidential election campaign without much relief and completely apart, hit first by the COVID crisis, then the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron, the big favorite in all the polls with 30% of voting intentions, has given priority to his diplomatic efforts in recent weeks.
In this introductory remark, he considered that France was going to have to make “sometimes historic choices for our nation and for our Europe” in the “months and years to come”, to “be able to defend itself in the face of crises”, “better protect” the French and “make our country stronger”.
In the unprecedented context of the “tragic” situation experienced by Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Mr. Macron chose to discuss at length at the beginning of his speech his program concerning the armies. “We must continue this effort to continue to gain flexibility, adaptability, for our armies in particular in the face of new types of conflict,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron then promised, to “make a more independent nation”, to invest massively for “agricultural, industrial and creative independence” from France.
“If we want a more united society, we must fight more for inequalities at the root”, he also launched, promising to make school and health – always too “sources of inequalities” – two “major projects”.
On one of the subjects traditionally sources of tension in France – the retirement age – the candidate Macron proposes a postponement of the retirement age to 65 years. “We have to work harder,” he said.
Since he declared himself at the beginning of March, the president-candidate had only made one public meeting with the French, on March 7, while his opponents are increasing the number of rallies. To the point that his camp must lead “almost a campaign without a candidate”, while the opposition accuses him of dodging the debate.
Emmanuel Macron, president who is both seductive and brittle, has gone through a tumultuous five-year term with a consummate art of adaptation and by practicing a solitary and vertical exercise of power.
The youngest president France has ever had, the former economy minister of ex-socialist president François Hollande was propelled to the top in 2017 at just 39 years old, masterfully using his image as an outsider or a right or left, and surfing on the disintegration of traditional parties.
Praised by his supporters, the president is just as hated by part of the population. Although he came from the left, he was very early on described as the “president of the rich” and of the urbanized elites, and in particular took particularly decried measures at the start of his mandate: the abolition of the wealth tax and the reduction of housing assistance.
The body of his candidate program for his re-election, a hundred measures, will be detailed in a 24-page booklet which will be sent by mail to some 6 million French households this weekend.
Emmanuel Macron will be on a campaign trip to the south-west of France on Friday. It should then continue to be rare, with for the moment only one gathering in sight, on April 2 in Paris.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca