A year before the next presidential election, Mr. Macron is focusing on saving jobs and reviving the pandemic-battered French economy as his country inches out of its third partial lockdown. While he has not officially declared his candidacy, Mr. Macron has made comments suggesting he intends to seek re-election. Mr. Macron, 43, a former economy minister under his predecessor, Socialist President Francois Hollande, has characterised his policies as transcending traditional left-right divides. Mr. Macron’s government includes major figures previously belonging to conservative party The Republicans, including his Prime Minister and the finance and interior ministers. As Mr. Macron himself proved in 2017, when he shot from a wild-card candidate to the presidency in less than four months, anything could happen in the next year.

Source: The Hindu May 09, 2021 07:46 UTC