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Macron booed by angry French protesters as he begins appeasement tour

AFP
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Macron booed by angry French protesters as he begins appeasement tour
French gendarmes push back demonstrators during a protest against a visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Muttersholtz. (Photo by Frederick FLORIN / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron was loudly booed by crowds in eastern France on Wednesday as he embarked on his first trip out of Paris since signing his unpopular pensions reform into law.

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Macron had been encouraged by allies to get out and meet voters after signing the reform following months of protests, with some fearing he was becoming too reclusive inside the presidential palace.

But as he arrived in Selestat in the Alsace region, some locals chanted slogans including "Macron resign!" and booed and jeered the 45-year-old, with some personally heckling him.

One man accused him of having a "corrupt government on a scale we have never seen before", adding: "You will fall soon, you'll see."

Later on Wednesday Macron said the role of the president was "not to be liked or disliked but to do the best for the country".

Macron told regional newspapers on Wednesday that he would invite the unions back to the presidential palace in May and said agreements with employers would be "faithfully transcribed" into law.

French President Emmanuel Macron (C) meets with locals during a visit to Alsace on the theme of reindustrialisation, in Selestat, eastern France, on April 19, 2023. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)


'Expressions of anger'

The images of the heckling come as polls show Macron's popularity ratings close to their lowest ever levels.

The next presidential elections in France are not until 2027 and Macron by law cannot stand a third consecutive time. But analysts have warned the current situation is playing into the hands of far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

The scenes recall Macron's visits around France during the so-called "Yellow Vest" protests of 2018-19, when the head of state was frequently confronted by angry hecklers and protesters.

On Tuesday evening, a private trip by Macron to Saint-Denis, northeast of Paris, also saw around 300 demonstrators voice their anger at his pension changes.

"People will make themselves heard but that's part of the moment," an aide to the president told reporters on Wednesday, adding that there would be "expressions of anger most probably, support perhaps."

The head of state was slapped in the face in 2021 by a 28-year-old unemployed mediaeval history enthusiast during a visit to a small town in southeastern France.

After Wednesday's visits, Macron is set to go to a school in the southern Herault region on Thursday.

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A video surfaced Tuesday of Macron singing traditional song "Le Refuge" -- about a lodge in the mountains on France's southwestern border with Spain -- in the street after his televised address on Monday.

He was surrounded by men in their 20s and 30s singing vigorously and the incident might at first have seemed a welcome show of connection with voters for the president.

But the video was first published on the Facebook page of an organisation called "Projet Canto" which, according to left-wing newspaper Liberation, was founded and run by far-right activists.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, a figurehead for the hard left and former presidential candidate, said Macron's power was waning.

"The president's authority is rotting away," he wrote on his blog.

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