Centre is slipping from under Macron’s feet

Politicians being politicians, it is only natural that we are constantly lowering our expectations of them as they shift goalposts in their bid for power. Indeed, power beckons Emmanuel Macron, the leader of En Marche, who is expected to handily defeat Front National candidate Marine Le Pen six days from now in the French presidential elections. Macron is a self-proclaimed Centrist. He’s young, handsome, ambitious, and has a wife 25 years his senior. He’s adopted her three children and poses with their kids for the family portrait. He’s a liberal because he has an unconventional family which could only mean he is open to the world and its myriad influences. Globalisation. He’s a votary. Populist? No way. That’s reserved for the likes of Marine Le Pen. Suffice to say he has captured the imagination of France. But unconventional politicians can be unconvincing in what they say and propose to do. Macron fits the bill nicely. As a Centrist he’s neither here nor there. Left? Right? No. Left of centre is where he wants to be. He sees virtue in it and has made it his campaign mantra. Non committal, nonconformist and unconventional. That’s the portrayal he revels in.

With the masses on his side, Macron goes on to threaten a Frexit on the European Union still reeling from the impact of Brexit. Both Britain and Brussels are in a quandary on how to set the ball rolling. Now the Centrist in Macron turns populist before the final round of the polls and plugs the Eurosceptic Le Pen’s campaign agenda. Suits him fine because it could cut into Le Pen’s band of supporters who want the same thing. This is an election in which every trick in the book must be tried out. The Front National leader slammed Macron as the ‘candidate of continuity’. A Centrist can swing both ways is what Macron is trying to say with his latest transformation in the push for votes. Neutral is the natural way to go even if Frexit is an empty threat. The cause, the lure of power is greater than the principle. May the best candidate win.