Macron to Finally Reveal Reform Plan in Crunch Announcement

By Staff, Agencies

French President Emmanuel Macron will on Thursday reveal his long-awaited response to almost half a year of street protests in a reform plan that could prove decisive for his presidency and long-term political future.

Macron, 41, swept to power in 2017 on hopes he would be a youthful breath of fresh air for France. But since November he saw the momentum sucked out of his presidency by the weekly "yellow vest" protests against social inequality.

On Thursday night, at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) Macron will hold a formal press conference to announce a series of reforms drawn up after a vast listening exercise he launched in response to the protests.

He is expected to announce important, but not revolutionary reforms, including tax cuts for middle classes, as well as the abolition of the ENA administration school which has become a direct feeder for the French elite.

For Macron, known to favor surprise and the dramatic gesture, the stakes are huge.

"Macron prepares to launch Act 2 of his presidency," said the Le Figaro newspaper.

Polls show his popularity rating stuck on or even under 30 percent, a far cry from the heady days after his inauguration almost two years ago when his approval rating was over 60 percent.

Macron already has his eye on 2022 presidential elections, heavily aware that his two predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande only lasted for one term and failed to implement lasting change.

At stake is not just his ambitious agenda to modernize France but his status as a global statesman able to stand up to US President Donald Trump and lead Europe as German Chancellor Angela Merkel steps aside and the UK is bedeviled by Brexit.

But even the timing and medium of Macron's big announcement has been entwined in delay and confusion.

Last Monday evening on April 15, a pre-recorded address by the president announcing the new measures was in the can and ready to be broadcast across France.

But just two hours before it was to go out, the devastating fire at Notre-Dame forced the presidency to cancel the broadcast and Macron rushed to the burning Paris cathedral.