Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (1977–), commonly known as Emmanuel Macron, is the 8th President of the Fifth Republic of France, having defeated the then-leader of Front National (which, after the meteoric loss, was renamed to National Rally) turned independent Marine Le Pen in the second round of the 2017 French election. He won in a landslide: 66.1% to Le Pen's 33.9%; but since then his approval rating has fallen to a measly 26% (as of October 2018).[3] A former member of the centre-left Socialist Party, which he left in 2009, in 2016 he founded La République En Marche !, a centrist and pro-European coalition.

ThisFile:Wikipedia's W.svg is also a macron.
“”I am a socialist. I believe being a socialist is a necessity these days.
—Emmanuel Macron, in 2014[1][better source needed]
“”To be honest, I am not a socialist.
—Emmanuel Macron, in 2016[2][better source needed]
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The age difference between him and his wife attracted significant media attention (as well as the inevitable jokes referencing a certain Van Halen song, once people know the full story).

Le bon, le mal, et le blasé

The Good

He wants a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis.[4]

He said that France must acknowledge responsibility for deporting thousands of Jews to Nazi Germany in WWII.[4]

He wants a gender-balanced cabinet.[4]

He opened medically-assisted procreation to all women.[5]

He wants to implement a system of bonuses and penalties to encourage companies to make more unfixed term contracts.[6]

He wants to create a European minimum wage.[7]

The Bad

He said that Africa's problems are 'civilizational' and happen because of women having '7 or 8' kids (which is true for only one or two out of over fifty African states),[8] not because of colonialism.[note 1]

He's a typical neoliberal. As President, he signed into law several "reforms" that gut labour in France, including giving employers more flexibility to negotiate pay and conditions with their workers and makes it easier to lay off staff. A cap has also been set on the "amount of compensation awarded by industrial courts" in cases of unfair dismissal — a "key demand of bosses" who complain that "lengthy" and "costly" court cases discourage them from hiring staff in the first place. Macron resorted to executive orders for these labour reforms, which reeks of autocracy to many within the French working class. [9]

The Blasé

Many have argued that Macron's tax-cuts (e.g., his 70% reduction of the wealth tax) overwhelmingly benefit the top 0.1%.[4] However, Macron has argued that the higher taxes of the past have backfired and resulted in many successful people leaving the country.[10] He argues that these cuts are necessary to stimulate economic growth.

He effectively made the state of emergency permanent by granting police unprecedented powers to harass citizens for the sake of anti-terrorism.[11] His labor reforms caused a string of layoffs throughout French society, and despite having a supermajority, accomplished these reforms by executive order, completely undercutting parliamentary debate and any potential amendments to soften its blow.[12]

En Marche!

En Marche! is a centrist French political party founded by Macron himself after ditching the Socialists. It literally translates to something along the lines of "On the March!", which would sound very odd in English. A better translation would be "forward" or "onward". It also shares Emmanuel Macron's initials... Founded in 2016, the party took France by storm in the 2017 elections, making Macron president, winning an absolute majority in the National Assembly, and winning a decent minority of the French Senate. The party is arguably the most pro-European major party in France.

Ongoing protests against Macron

On 17 November 2018, the Yellow Vests (Gilets jaunes) protests began, protesting over high fuel tax, low minimum wage, and high living costs. On its first day of protests, one person was killed and over a hundred were injured.[13] Currently, it is in its 21st week of protests.[14]

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See also

Notes
  1. In fairness, he did call out colonialism in a speech in Algeria. Still, this article here explains what's wrong with his statement.

References
  3. Macron’s approval ratings slip again in latest opinion poll, POLITICO
  4. http://theconversation.com/emmanuel-macron-is-already-showing-he-is-no-progressive-81200
  5. https://www.france24.com/en/20180925-france-bioethics-body-backs-medically-assisted-reproduction-all-women-lesbian-couples
  6. https://www.archynetys.com/business/emmanuel-macron-puts-the-bonus-penalty-on-the-table-to-fight-against-the-abuse-of-cdd/
  7. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-minimum-wage-eu-labour-european-commission-a8908761.html
  8. https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Maps/
  9. http://www.france24.com/en/20170922-macron-signs-sweeping-labour-reforms-law
  10. https://www.ft.com/content/3d907582-b893-11e7-9bfb-4a9c83ffa852
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/28/macrons-counter-terror-bill-risks-frances-human-rights-record-says-un
  12. https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/02/macron-labor-reform-cgt-melenchon
  13. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/france-fuel-tax-protests-1-dead-and-more-than-100-injured-2018-11-17/
  14. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/yellow-vests-march-again-as-government-tries-to-regroup/ar-BBVGDzO
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