New opinion polls show that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, could struggle to win re-election next year, when France votes for its President and Parliament.
The French government’s less-than-ideal handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the slow rollout of the vaccines in the European Union, could deal Macron a blow ahead of next year’s poll.
An opinion poll released last week showed that Macron would win only about a quarter of the vote in an election, behind his right-wing rival, Marine le Pen from the National Rally (formerly known as the National Front). In a head-to-head showdown between the two, Macron would win by 52% to 48%. However, the two had faced off in the previous French presidential election, and Macron had won nearly two-thirds of the vote.
Other polls are more positive for Macron, which show him winning a head-to-head against Le Pen fairly easily.
However, political analysts have cautioned against reading too much into the opinion polls, noting that French elections are only scheduled for April 2022 and much could still happen in that time.
Macron, who himself had Covid-19 in December, has promised that all French citizens who want a vaccination will have received it by the end of the European summer.