Is Emmanuel Macron losing his Midas touch?

The French president has been accused of acting like a monarch and has been making many mistakes

The glitter appears to be wearing off with unusual speed. France’s 39-year-old wunderkind president, Emmanuel Macron, is slipping in the popularity charts with an astonishing 10-point slump last month.

That such a slide should occur during the first 100 days of ‘grace’ is unprecedented for any president in the history of the French Fifth Republic. Only 54% say they are happy with their president.

Only recently Macron appeared to have the magic touch, getting everything right. His bone crusher handshake with United States President Donald Trump went viral, and he chalked up a succession of diplomatic triumphs including his riposte to Trump’s pulling out of the climate treaty.

Then came the invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin and a sumptuous reception at Versailles, followed closely by Trump in Paris for the Bastille Day Parade on July 14. The Guardian called the young president’s debut “near faultless”.

Since then, an emboldened Macron has been making mistakes. Part of that might be due to the very nature of the French presidency and the almost limitless powers invested in the head of state. Macron might have begun overplaying his hand.

Recently, he attempted another diplomatic coup by bringing warring Libyan factions to the negotiating table. Macron got the two principal Libyan protagonists talking and they promised to hold presidential and legislative elections next year.

Neither the European Union nor Italy were either included in the talks. The reaction in Rome was one of unrestrained fury. After all, the majority of migrants coming to Europe set sail from Libya and Italy has long called for international help in dealing with search, rescue and resettlement operations, receiving only lip service from the international community.

In his dealings with Italy, Macron has appeared to take the high-handed, somewhat condescending manner that characterises France’s historic attitude towards its transalpine neighbour.

At the G20 summit last month the French president came under fire both at home but particularly abroad for suggesting Africa’s challenges were “civilisational” and that providing financial aid would be pointless when “there are countries where women are having seven or eight children”.

To add to Italian ire, Macron took the snap decision to nationalise (albeit temporarily) STX, the giant shipyard that makes the world’s biggest ocean liners, to prevent it from falling into Italian hands, going back on a deal that had the benediction of an earlier French government.

Macron caught the popular French imagination and coasted to victory defeating the extreme Right candidate Marine Le Pen. Subsequently, his political movement, Republique En Marche won an absolute majority in parliament giving him almost absolute powers to move ahead with his agenda which is a mix a market-friendly labour reforms with a dose of old fashioned welfarism.

But critics now say that Macron has betrayed his campaign promises with a slew of budget cuts that will affect students and the poor, whereas cuts in wealth tax will favour the wealthiest 10% in France. He also proposed deep cuts to military budgets that drew an angry response from the chief of the armed services that led to a nasty public showdown terminating in the army chief’s resignation.

These incidents have sown a certain malaise about how Macron views his presidential function. “Monarchical rather than Presidential,” was how one newspaper described Macron’s understanding his office. He has said he would prefer to govern through decree than lengthy parliamentary debate, a proposition certainly not to everyone’s taste.

The French have a strange relationship with their president. They seem unsure as to what they really want him to be. They disliked the humility and “normality” of Hollande as much as they disliked the brash, bling-bling showiness of Sarkozy. Their ideal remains General de Gaulle who managed to combine all the desired qualities: Powerful as a king, but democratic; strong, but not autocratic; self-assured, but not over the top; intellectual but not a show off, stately and not cheap.

It’s a difficult balancing act. As Macron with the party that bears his initials (En Marche) is beginning to find out.

PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH MACRON MIGHT BE DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE PRESIDENCY AND THE ALMOST LIMITLESS POWERS INVESTED IN THE HEAD OF STATE. HE MIGHT HAVE BEGUN OVERPLAYING HIS HAND