Yet,
something else too is garnering attention – the daughter of France’s new First Lady Brigitte
Macron (née Trogneux) says “jealousy” is behind the “abhorrent” attacks on her
mother’s relationship with Emmanuel Macron, who was proclaimed the President of
France Sunday morning. “I find it abhorrent in France in the 21st century such
attacks, which would not be carried out against a male politician or a male
companion of a female politician,” she continued – wonder what it is all about
?
Earlier, the newly elect President
Macron who has talked up a hard Brexit
faced his first test when a hard-left
demonstration in the French capital descended into a riot. Communists and
revolutionary groups clashed with heavily armed riot police in the center of
Paris. Thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Place de la Republique
calling for 'resistance' to President Macron's 'capitalist' agenda of
employment and benefits reforms. There
were ugly scenes, as riot police pushed protestors back using batons and tear
gas.
The march paused on the
traditional 2km route to Place de la Bastille - the scene if the first throws
of the 1789 French Revolution - where bottles and missiles were thrown at riot
police. Squadrons of heavily armed officers responded by firing tear gas and
baton charges. France's new
President-elect has vowed to be a tough negotiator. He has described Britain’s
decision to leave the EU as ‘a crime’, and is in favour of a so-called hard
Brexit that will see the UK kept out of the single market. He also pledged to unite France following his
resounding 66 per cent election landslide that ended any hopes of victory for
the nationalist firebrand Marine Le Pen, 48, and her National Front (FN) party.
The 39-year-old appeared
at the Arc de Triomphe in central Paris, where he remembered the fallen from
the most devastating conflict in human history. Soon after the moving ceremony
at the Arc de Triomphe, anarchists and other rioters hijacked a trade union
demonstration against Mr Macron around the Place de la Bastille. Mr Macron was particularly keen to assist in
the laying of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, underneath the Arc de
Triomphe. He is particularly opposed to the FN, which has always been
associated with nostalgia for the Third Reich, racism, anti-Semitism, and
hatred of Islam.
Beyond dealing with such
domestic strife, Mr Macron’s main challenge will now be to build a majority in
the Paris National Assembly, during parliamentary elections in June. Emmanuel Macron's
ex-teacher wife Brigitte is anticipated to play a key role in the centrist's
new government. While Macron is hailed
as the young savior at the age of 39 – his wife is 64 and the 24 year age gap has come under much
scrutiny, since the French President launched his leadership bid in
November 2016, months after founding the En Marche! political movement. Mr Macron shared a classroom at a Catholic school with
one of Mrs Trogneux's two daughters Laurence – who is also 39. Her daughter was to say that - “I find it abhorrent
in France in the 21st century such attacks, which would not be carried out
against a male politician or a male companion of a female politician.” Mirroring a Michelle Obama approach to her
first lady role, Brigitte Trogneux, 64, who is more than 24 years older than
her husband, is reportedly keen to become involved in issues such as education.
With two decades more life experience than her husband and as the ex-teacher
who has shaped his character since the age of 15, the grandmother of eight is
expected to play an active role in the new government.
'Brigitte's main interest
is education reform and she will concentrate on work for autistic and
disadvantaged kids, out of the political firing line,' Candice Nedelec,
co-author of a biography of the couple, told The Sunday Times. When Mr Macron,
39, worked as finance minister under Francois Hollande, Mrs Trogneux was the
person who oversaw her husband's diary and this role continued once he created
En Marche!. She is also said to correct his speeches and act as an
intermediary. But once the Macrons move into the Elysee Palace, Mrs Trogneux
who once said she would have preferred that her husband had gone on to become
an author rather than work in politics, will reportedly have more on her plate
including tasks, staff and a budget – but no salary. By not paying his wife, Mr
Macron could be trying to distance himself from the 'Penelopegate' scandal
which heavily contributed to republican candidate Francois Fillon being wiped
out of the election race.
Mr Fillon
sensationally fell from grace when a French newspaper reported that he had paid
his British wife Penelope hundreds of thousands for a job she never carried
out.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
14th May 2017.
