Before he left his summer residence at the Fort de Brégançon for Paris, after a three-week break, French president Emmanuel Macron mingled with a crowd of well-wishers. The “Benalla affair” is one of four scandals ticking away in Macron’s immediate circle. Conservatives criticise what they see as government profligacy, while leftists still see Macron as the “president of the rich”. Predictions that Macron would back down when he reformed the labour code and the SNCF railway system proved false. None of these scandals threaten to drive Macron out of office, but they have dented his promises of “exemplary probity” and increased disillusionment with the political class.

Source: The Irish Times August 25, 2018 03:56 UTC