5 January 2019 12:00 am
PARIS (Reuters), JANUARY 4, 2019 - Three-quarters of French people are unhappy with the way President Emmanuel Macron and his government are running the country, with a majority keen to see more measures to boost household incomes, a poll showed on Thursday.
A wave of “yellow vest” street protests in the past two months have rocked Macron’s presidency, forcing him into policy concessions including scrapping a planned fuel tax rise to try and defuse anger over a perceived squeeze on family budgets. Facing the sternest challenge of his 20-month tenure, Macron has since vowed to press on with other reform pledges, however, like tackling unemployment benefits or overhauling the civil service, even as the protest movement rumbles on. Only 25 per cent of people surveyed by Odoxa and Dentsu Consulting for franceinfo and the Figaro newspaper said they were satisfied with the French Government’s measures and action since Macron came to power in mid-2017.
The poll of 1,004 people, carried out on Jan. 2 and 3, compared to one from April 2018, when 59
per cent of those surveyed were unhappy with the government versus 75 per cent now.