Emmanuel Macron narrowly missed being hit by a sack of tomatoes during a surprise visit to a working-class district north of Paris, where he promised a new style of “listening to the people” after re-elected as chief.
In his first public appearance since Sunday’s vote, Macron walked around a food market in the town of Cergy, northwest of Paris, shaking hands and taking selfies. Most people were friendly, some cheered and others asked for help finding a job, dealing with health problems or making ends meet.
But on one occasion there was a brief boo, and a bag of tomatoes was thrown at Macron’s back but he missed it. A bodyguard opened an umbrella to protect the boss who quickly avoided the projectile and continued to greet people and shake hands.
The Elysee Palace said the trip was Macron’s way of “listening to people’s concerns, expectations and needs”. He told the local youth that he wanted to get out on the ground “from the start”. One young woman replied, “Don’t come here just for the pictures.” “It’s good that he’s coming out of the Elysee,” said one onlooker.
Macron won a second term at the weekend, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at 58.5% it has 41.5%But during his election campaign, he faced accusations of arrogance, distancing and not understanding people Concerns about the cost of livinghousing, jobs and poverty. He struggled to get rid of the “rich chief” mantra.
“I want to give a message of respect and consideration to these regions, which are among the poorest in the country, since the beginning of my term,” Macron said at Sergey.
He admitted that the disadvantaged high-rises surrounding Paris had some of the highest neighbourhoods abstinence rates in the presidential vote. Macron said that “life has been difficult” there and some people felt angry or cut off from politics, and not enough progress had been made in recent years to improve their lives.
He said there are issues of discrimination, the need for training programmes, more doctors, and better health care in these areas, as well as job creation. “We have reduced unemployment here, but it is still above the national average due to discrimination and insufficient training,” he said after meeting young local entrepreneurs.
Macron, the first French leader to be re-elected for a second term in 20 years, is focused on parliamentary elections in June. He would need a center majority in the 577-seat House of Representatives in order to make his manifesto plans, including overhauling the benefits system and raising the retirement age. The respondents believe that he has a good chance of winning the majority.
Sergey is a left-wing district where the leader of the radical left Jean-Luc Melenchon She topped the first round of the presidential vote. Melenchon is trying to forge alliances with other parties on the left to challenge Macron’s centrists in the parliamentary elections.
Melenchon party, no France And Insomes, which holds 17 seats in the House of Representatives, wants to expand by hundreds more to win a majority for the left. On Wednesday, the Socialist Party and the Green Party (EELV) began talks about possible parliamentary alliances with Melenchon to increase the number of seats for the left.
There are still obstacles. Socialists are traditional rivals of La France Insoumise, and some older socialists warn against “compromising” the party’s principles. The Green Party favors a coalition, but some green figures have said they will not compromise their pro-European and anti-nuclear stance.
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