PARIS: In his unorthodox private life and short political career, France’s new President Emmanuel Macron has battled conventions and broken with traditions.
The 39-year-old son of two doctors from the northeastern city of Amiens — set to be the youngest president in French history — breaks the mold of a traditional French leader, apart from his elite education in some of the country’s best universities.
Firstly, he is married to his former teacher, glamorous 64-year-old Brigitte Trogneux, a divorced mother of three children whom he fell in love with as a schoolboy.
Their relationship has been a subject of fascination, often encouraged by the media-savvy Macron, in French glossy magazines.
He has also charted one of the most unlikely paths to the presidency in modern history, from virtual unknown three years ago to leader with no established political party behind him.
The philosophy, literature and classical music lover launched his independent movement En Marche (“On The Move“) only 12 months ago, which he said was “neither of the left nor the right.”
This unusual positioning for France, which has seen him borrow economic policies from the right coupled with social measures from the left, was initially met with cynicism.
“There is a left and a right... and that’s a good thing, that’s how our democracy functions,” former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said after En Marche was launched. “It would be absurd to want to remove those differences.”
Others saw the ambitious former investment banker, who was then economy minister in Socialist President Francois Hollande’s government, as too young and too inexperienced to have serious presidential ambitions.
Few apart from his loyal core of advisers believed that he had the ability to win in 2017 at the age of 39, a year younger than Napoleon Bonaparte when he took power in 1804.
But Macron pressed on, using his image as a dynamic young modernizer to draw in thousands of volunteers to En Marche, which was modelled partly on the grassroots movement of former US President Barack Obama in 2008.
After resigning from his job as economy minister in August, he set about writing his pre-election book “Revolution” and then finally declared he was running for president on Nov. 16.
“We can’t respond with the same men and the same ideas,” he said at a jobs training center in a gritty Parisian suburb.
A giant meeting at a convention center in southern Paris in December was an early warning to rivals — and led to widespread mockery of Macron who ended the rally screaming, arms aloft, as he basked in the adoration.
Since then, he has benefited from the woes of the Socialist party and a scandal that engulfed one-time favorite Francois Fillon from the rightwing Republicans party, the other mainstream force in French politics.
Fillon was accused of paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros from the public purse for a fake job as a parliamentary assistant — allegations he denied but which sunk his campaign.
“He’s been lucky,” veteran political journalist Anne Fulda, who wrote a recent biography called “Emmanuel Macron, Such A Perfect Young Man,” told AFP. “That’s something that helped him considerably. The stars aligned.”
With frustration at France’s political class running high, Macron was able to tap into a desire for wholesale change that also propelled his far-right rival Marine Le Pen into Sunday’s run-off vote.
As a student, Macron worked as an assistant to a famous French philosopher and followed a well-worn path through France’s elite public universities including the ENA, which has groomed many leaders.
After first working as a civil servant in the Finance Ministry, he then went into investment banking, where he earned millions at Rothschild putting together mergers and acquisitions.
Opponents have targeted this period of his career as proof he is part of the “global capitalist elite.” His self-assurance, expensive suits and defense of entrepreneurs has offered further ammunition.
“I’ve spoken with hundreds of people and you can feel it in the air: You are already hated,” one far-left critic, Francois Ruffin, wrote last week in an article in Le Monde newspaper.
He is also frequently criticized for being too vague or intellectual in his speeches, which are often long and peppered with literary references or poetry.
While at ease among ordinary voters, Macron has been accused of being condescending in the past, whether referring to “illiterate” abattoir workers, “alcoholic” laid-off workers or the “poor people” who travel on buses.
In an infamous exchange, when confronted by a protester in a T-shirt in May last year, he lost his cool, saying: “The best way to buy yourself a suit is to work.”
Emmanuel Macron — a 39-year-old political prodigy
Emmanuel Macron — a 39-year-old political prodigy
UPDATE 2-Walk for peace: Buddhist monks arrive in Washington after 2,300-mile journey
- Monks started in Texas, walked through nine states
- Walkers trod daily through frigid winter weather
WASHINGTON: Draped in burnt-orange robes, two dozen Buddhist monks arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday on a 2,300-mile “Walk for Peace,” a self-described spiritual journey across nine states that has been cheered on by crowds of thousands. “People want this,” said Joan Donoghue, 59, from Silver Spring, Maryland, who had come out with four of her friends on Tuesday to see the monks. “I went on Sunday in Virginia and I waited outside for a long time and I talked to so many people and they all said the same thing: that our country needs this. We feel divided and people want more kindness and more compassion and more peace.”
The monks began their walk in Texas more than three months ago, at times braving frigid winter temperatures, sometimes with bare feet, to raise “awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.” The marchers continued on despite a powerful winter storm that spread a paralyzing mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England, compounded by bitter, Arctic cold gripping much of the US Accompanied by Aloka, a rescue dog from India who has gained a following on social media as “the Peace Dog,” their journey comes at a time of growing tensions in the US President Donald Trump’s tough immigration policy has seen surges of immigration agents and National Guard troops deployed in some cities, with both American citizens and immigrants killed by federal agents.
“We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us,” said Bhikkhu Pannakara, spiritual leader of the Walk for Peace. “The Walk for Peace is a simple yet meaningful reminder that unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole.”
They will spend Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington and end their journey in nearby Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday.
The walk has garnered support from millions of people on social media, with many sharing messages of support for the monks. Supporters have braved snow and rain to meet and offer flowers to the monks as they passed through their cities. In Washington, hundreds of people came out to see the monks as they walked along a road informally known as Embassy Row because of the high number of embassies and diplomatic residences.
Coleman O’Donoghue, 62, of Washington, caught the attention of many of those onlookers as he carried a large flag with the peace symbol on a sea of blue. Tuesday was the fourth time he and his wife, Bonnie, had seen the monks.
“They are beautiful distraction from the chaos that is taking place in the city, the country and in the world right now,” O’Donoghue said. “It gives everyone a second to pause and think about something that is not as stressful as what the chaos is creating.”
While they waited hours just to see the monks for less than a minute, many of the spectators said the camaraderie and good energy made the experience worthwhile.
Julie Segor, 58, of Washington, made friends with a couple she met while waiting. Carl, 61, and Christine Varner, 65, of Maryland, pooled their flowers and fruit with her to give to the monks as they passed.
“It was a shared common interest to see the monks on the peace walk and give them some fruit and flowers,” Christine said.
During their stop in North Carolina, the state’s governor, Josh Stein, thanked the monks for bringing hope to millions with their message of peace, equality, justice and compassion.
“You are inspiring people at a time when so many are in need of inspiration,” Stein said. The Walk for Peace has made stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The monks met with spiritual and other leaders after arriving in Washington. They also held an interfaith ceremony at the National Cathedral.
During the ceremony at the cathedral, Kimberly Bassett, the District of Columbia’s secretary of state, presented the monks with a proclamation honoring them on behalf of the Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“Today may mark the end of a 2,300-mile walk but it is not the end of our journey for peace. Your pilgrimage has brought people together across cities, states and communities,” Bassett said.
Although the walk has been positive, it has not been without obstacles. While walking through Dayton, Texas, a truck struck the monks’ escort vehicle, injuring several people, according to local media. Two monks sustained serious injuries and one had his leg amputated.
Despite the accident, the group continued to trek across the US to honor not only their original message of peace but also their brothers.
