Only 20% of French See Le Pen Handling Crisis Better, Poll Shows

(Bloomberg) --

Only 20% of the French see far-right leader Marine Le Pen handling the coronavirus crisis better than the current government led by President Emmanuel Macron, according to an Ifop poll for Journal du Dimanche.

Le Pen, who lost to Macron in the second round of presidential elections in 2017, has been one of the staunchest opponents of the government's response to the epidemic.

Macron's administration has been criticized for its changing messages on who should wear masks and get tested. While polls show declining trust in the executive branch, the president's popularity has improved, marking a shift after the Yellow Vest movement and weeks of strikes to block his pension reforms.

No opponent has so far emerged as a threat for Macron in the 2022 presidential election. In the Ifop poll, 20% saw former right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy handling the crisis better than him, and 15% preferred far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

That's well below the 39% who trust the government to handle the crisis, according to the poll, which was based on a sample of 1,019 respondents at the end of April. The figure has been roughly stable for the past three weeks, but is down from 55% in mid-March.

Respondents also showed more trust in the government's ability to support the economy through the downturn: 47% trust it to help struggling companies.

France won't lift its lockdown as planned on May 11 if the circulation of the virus is still high then, Health Minister Olivier Veran warned in an interview with Le Parisien, echoing comments made by the prime minister before the poll was conducted. The date when restrictions on non-essential travel will be lifted could differ from one area to another. The health minister also advised the French not to book flights for the summer holidays.