Without saying so, France’s Macron launching re-election bid

LE PECQ : “I’m standing again as candidate for the French presidency.”

Those words, or some variation along those lines, were the most glaring omission in a prime-time address to the nation on Tuesday night by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The 27-minute speech, delivered against a backdrop of the red-white-and-blue tricolor flag and an embossed seal of the French Republic, swept back over France’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, pitched forward to its economic recovery and spoke encouragingly of French strengths but also cautioned of challenges and vulnerabilities.

It was a televised declaration that sounded very much like a re-election campaign launch — without actually saying so.

That, certainly, is how it was seen by political opponents who have already declared their ambitions to unseat Macron and limit him to a one-term president when the country votes in April.

“Clearly, Emmanuel Macron is a candidate,” tweeted far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is hoping to improve on his fourth place in the 2017 election that put Macron in power as France’s youngest-ever president.

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, roundly beaten by Macron in the 2017 presidential run-off, called the address “a campaign speech.

” For now, not officially declaring himself up for re-election is strategically advantageous for 43-year-old Macron.

From the gilded offices of the presidential Elysee Palace, Macron can appear to be above electoral politicking and what is already shaping up as a fractious and bruising campaign.

It is trickier for opposing candidates to attack a standing president who hasn’t yet rolled up his sleeves and waded officially into the fray.

Because the president incarnates French authority, attacking the office runs the risk for Macron’s opponents of appearing uncouth and unpatriotic.

Ambiguity also enables Macron to use the privileges of the presidency to campaign without saying so.