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Macron Popularity Remains Low After Unconvincing TV Interviews on Reforms – Poll

16:11 GMT, 24 April 2018
© AP Photo / Jean-Paul Pelissier
PARIS (Sputnik) - The level of popular support for French President Emmanuel Macron slightly increased in April, though still remained below 50 percent, due to the fact the French leader failed to convince the people of the validity of his reforms in a series of TV interviews earlier this month, a poll published Tuesday revealed.
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According to the Odoxa pollster, 47 percent of respondents said they supported Macron, a 2-percent increase from the results of the March poll, but the majority (53 percent) still felt the opposite.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe received the same approval and disapproval ratings.

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Given Macron's frequent media appearances in April, the growth in his popularity is relatively weak. The pollster noted that two television interviews provided Macron a total of almost fours hours to better explain the range of unpopular government reforms, particularly those related to railway monopolist SNCF and education, and the growth of general social contribution tax (CSG).

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The president's TV appearances on April 12 and 15 had a limited impact, with only 35 percent of respondents saying they were "generally convinced," while 65% said they were "not convinced" by the president’s speech.

Only one in three citizens said that these interviews shed light on the government’s actions or gave any new information.

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With regard to other French political figures, right-wing Marine Le Pen was more popular than the president of center-right The Republicans party Laurent Wauquiez (23 percent and 15 percent, respectively). Leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon also had a 23-percent approval rating, while the new head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, was supported by just 8 percent of French people.

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Interior Minister Gerard Collomb and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian were supported by 28 percent and 26 percent of respondents, respectively.

The poll was conducted via the Internet on April 18-19 among 1,017 people with different political preferences. The margin of error was 2.5 percent.

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