France’s Emmanuel Macron must decide how to fight next year’s election
The pandemic favours the politics of caution over risk
IN FEBRUARY 2016, just 14 months before the most recent French presidential election, not a single opinion poll of potential candidates bothered to test the name Emmanuel Macron. Weak party allegiances, anti-establishment distrust, a bold campaign—and a generous dose of luck—carried the electoral novice from nowhere to the presidency in record time. As France now turns its mind to the presidential contest in 2022, all polls and predictions therefore deserve caution. Yet the contours of the next campaign are beginning to emerge, and they present a peculiar challenge to Mr Macron as he thinks ahead to his re-election bid.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The president’s dilemma”
Europe February 13th 2021
- Covid-19 school closures are widening Europe’s class divisions
- France’s Emmanuel Macron must decide how to fight next year’s election
- Turkey’s president scapegoats gay-friendly students
- Shelters fear an influx of no-longer-wanted lockdown pets
- Mario Draghi is set to become Italy’s next prime minister
- The European Union must face up to the real Russia
From the February 13th 2021 edition
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