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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

Brigitte Macron says Emmanuel deserves respect and won’t resign

French President Emmanuel Macron "deserves" respect and is "sometimes" hurt by criticism, his wife Brigitte said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, 8 January 2025. © AFP - Ludovic Marin

President Emmanuel Macron "deserves" respect and is "sometimes" hurt by criticism, his wife Brigitte said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, she insisted, however, that he has no intention of resigning before the end of his term.

France has been mired in political deadlock since Macron gambled on snap elections last summer in a bid to bolster his authority and combat the rise of the far right.

Macron admits snap elections created more instability for France

The move backfired, with voters electing a parliament fractured between three rival blocs, while Macron's approval ratings have hit record lows.

The 47-year-old French leader has been weakened by months of political crisis, with some opposition politicians urging him to resign.

'More divisions than solutions'

Speaking to TF1 television, Brigitte Macron said: "Sometimes what he hears hurts him. It's very difficult. But he doesn't say it. He keeps it to himself," in what were rare public comments about her husband's political standing.

"Before, he spoke much more easily. Now he doesn't say it. And that I understand. Because if there's one thing Emmanuel deserves, it's respect".

During the interview, France's 71-year-old first lady was asked about Macron, his relationship with the French, the dissolution of parliament and his desire to see his term of office through to the end.

Addressing French people in a televised address on New Year's Eve, the French head of state admitted that dissolving parliament had "for now brought more divisions to the National Assembly than solutions".

2024: The French president's annus horribilis

History will judge

Brigitte Macron maintains that history will judge his decision.

"We'll have to wait and see," she said. "It's not for me to say what I think, I've never said it and I never will".

However, she admitted that the dissolution affected French people who she said were "anxious" and "a little lost".

"Everyday life is very difficult", Brigitte Macron added. "From abroad, France seems like a land of plenty, where you have health care, education, help, everything".

Regarding any suggestion that Macron might step down before the end of his mandate in 2027, she underlined: "He said he would go all the way because that was the mission given to him by the French people," adding he cared "so much" about the French.

"He cares about everything and he puts all his intelligence, all his heart at the service of the French people".

(With AFP)

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