Alexandre Chauveau with AFP
modified to
7:03 p.m., March 19, 2023
According to Ifop’s monthly barometer published by “Le Journal du Dimanche”, President Emmanuel Macron has an estimated popularity rating of 28%, his lowest level since the beginning of 2019 and the end of the “yellow vests” crisis. . That of Elisabeth Borne remains stable in March but remains below 30%
Emmanuel Macron’s popularity rating plummeted to 28% in March, a lowest ever since the beginning of 2019 at the end of the “yellow vests” crisis, when the government used article 49.3 to make pass its pension reform, according to the monthly Ifop barometer published by the Sunday newspaper. The Head of State is 28% satisfied (-4 points) and 70% dissatisfied according to this study carried out between March 9 and March 16, i.e. during the negotiations which finally led Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to resort to article 49.3 of the Constitution to have the much-contested reform adopted, which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
The popularity of Elisabeth Borne is maintained but remains low
This article allows the adoption of a text without a vote except motion of censure. Two motions filed by the oppositions are to be considered on Monday. Emmanuel Macron’s popularity has fallen by 13 points since his re-election in May 2022. It had reached its lowest level (23%) in December 2018, at the height of the “yellow vests” demonstrations.
For her part, the popularity of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne remained stable in March at 29% satisfied but with a little more dissatisfaction (67%, +1). She remains at her lowest level of popularity since her arrival at Matignon in May. The survey was conducted online with a sample of 1,928 people aged 18 and over, representative of the French population, according to the quota method, with a margin of error of between 1 and 2.3 points.
A speech from Macron soon?
For the government, the way out of the crisis first involves justifying 49.3 to public opinion. In the JDDthis Sunday, the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, invokes the too important nature of the reform to take the risk of “playing Russian roulette”. The latter does not intend to give up dialogue with the social partners, despite the forced passage made last Thursday. “There are other subjects on which we can move forward” continues Olivier Dussopt.
But public opinion is still hostile to this pension reform and even more to the use of 49.3. Weakened, Emmanuel Macron could still speak soon to explain to the French the reasons which led him to make use of this controversial article of the Constitution.