PARIS: Sixty percent of French voters are unhappy with President Emmanuel Macron, a survey said Wednesday, with strikes and protests growing as the ambitious young reformer prepares to mark a year in office.
Some 58 percent of people declared themselves dissatisfied with the 40-year-old, who has sparked anger among some groups by announcing reforms to everything from the courts and education system to the national rail operator.
The Ifop-Fiducial poll was broadly in line with other surveys showing an approval rate at around 40 percent almost a year after Macron swept to power last May at the head of a new centrist party.
A majority — 57 percent — agreed Macron was keeping his electoral promises after a campaign in which the political upstart pledged to slim down the state and make France more competitive.
“I’m doing what I said I would,” he told TF1 television during an interview last week, part of a media blitz to reconnect with voters and defend his reform agenda ahead of the anniversary.
The poll comes as Macron faces three months of rolling strikes on the railways over his plans to shake up heavily-indebted operator SNCF, scrapping early retirement and other benefits for new hires.
The latest in a series of mass public sector strikes over his cost-cutting plans is planned Thursday, while students at numerous universities around France are blocking faculty buildings over his higher education reforms.
On foreign policy, where Macron has pursued an energetic role, from the Middle East to climate diplomacy, the verdict was more positive than on domestic affairs.
Some 67 percent agreed that his passionate defense of the EU had been “positive” for relations with the bloc, while 63 percent said he had improved France’s image abroad.
And 56 percent said the pro-business president had boosted economic growth and France’s attractiveness as an investment destination, following a wave of positive economic data.
But only 27 percent said they support increased taxes for retirees, and just 18 percent said he was improving health care.
Just 30 percent agreed that Macron was “in touch with French people’s concerns,” following accusations from leftwingers that his tax cuts for the wealthy make him a “president of the rich.”
The survey for Paris Match magazine, Sud Radio and CNEWS television questioned 1,200 people online between April 12 and April 16.
60 percent ‘unhappy’ with Macron as French protests grow
60 percent ‘unhappy’ with Macron as French protests grow
Iranian drones hit Azerbaijan airport
- Azerbaijan on Thursday summoned the Iranian envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school
DUBAI: Azerbaijan on Thursday summoned the Iranian envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school.
The attacks around midday involved at least two drones that crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhichevan, which borders Iran and is separated from mainland Azerbaijan by Armenia, said a foreign ministry statement.
“One drone fell on the terminal building of Nakhichevan Airport, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shekerabad,” the ministry said, damaging the airport and wounding two civilians.
The ministry said it had summoned Iranian envoy in Baku to express “strong protest” over the attack, which “contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to rising tensions in the region.
“Azerbaijan reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures,” it added.
Iran has long expressed concern that Israel — a close ally of Azerbaijan and a key arms supplier — could use Azerbaijani territory to stage attacks.
Last June, Azerbaijan reassured Iran that it would not allow its territory to be used for attacks against Tehran after Israel launched a large-scale strike on Iranian targets.
Tehran has historically been wary of separatist sentiment among its ethnic Azerbaijani minority, which makes up around 10 million of Iran’s 83 million citizens.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry lodged an official protest with the Iranian embassy on Thursday after a pair of Iranian drones flew across the border into Azerbaijan and injured two people at an airport in the Nakhchivan exclave.
“This attack on the territory of Azerbaijan contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to increased tensions in the region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran clarify the matter in the shortest possible time, provide an explanation and take the necessary urgent measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.”
The Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan has been summoned to the foreign ministry to receive a formal note of protest, Baku said.
The statement said Azerbaijan reserved the right to carry out “appropriate response measures” against Tehran.
Azerbaijan’s ministry said one drone fell on the terminal building of the Nakhchivan International Airport, which is approximately 10 km (6 miles) across the border from Iran, and another drone landed close to a school building in a nearby village.
A source close to the Azerbaijani government told Reuters a fire had started as a result of the incident.
Video footage shared by the source showed black smoke rising near the airport and damage to the skylight inside the terminal building.
