French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron launched what he called a “Great March” on Saturday, a door-to-door campaign across France to collect voters’ grievances ahead of the 2017 presidential elections, in a new sign of his political ambitions.
The 38-year-old former investment banker has kept the country guessing about the true nature of his “En Marche” (Forward) party and refuses to confirm or deny whether he will run for president a year from now.
But the initiative by one of the Socialist government’s most popular ministers will fuel speculation that he is eying the Elysee as the ratings of President Francois Hollande fall, Reuters reported. Some 60 teams of 10-40 volunteers will knock on voters’ doors in about 50 cities across France, asking questions such as “What do you think doesn’t work in France?”, a spokeswoman for “En Marche” party said. Macron unveiled his movement in April, saying he wants it to be neither of the left nor the right. He said it had so far been joined by 50,000 people.
The former Rothschild partner aims to garner about 100,000 complaints and proposals by the end of the summer to establish what he calls a “diagnosis” for the country—something that would look very much like a manifesto.
