France’s Macron in hot water over jet ski picture

AFP | Paris

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

President Emmanuel Macron found himself in hot water Friday after he was pictured riding a jet ski on the Riviera, fuelling opposition claims that he is disconnected from ordinary people grappling with heatwaves and wildfires.

The 48-year-old president drew criticism after Paris Match magazine splashed a photo of Macron speeding across the Riviera on a jet ski across its cover.

Wearing a life vest that showcased his toned arms, Macron cut a sporty figure as he vacationed at the Bregancon Fort, the presidential retreat, during France’s August summer break.

“Last summer at the controls,” Paris Match said on its cover, referring to Macron’s departure from the Elysee palace next year when his second and final term ends.

The magazine also featured photographs of Macron engaging in water sports such as foil surfing, during a summer marked by successive heatwaves and deadly fires in France.

A member of Macron’s entourage said that the photos were not authorised.

“There have been unauthorised photos of the president every year for the past nine years,” the aide said.

The images drew gripes from the left-wing opposition.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said the French people were enduring an “apocalyptic summer” while “our president treats himself to a promotional feature about his vacation.”

She contrasted the magazine’s photo with the “deaths caused by five heatwaves, a drought, and historic wildfires.”

Socialist leader Olivier Faure suggested Macron was sending the wrong message.

“During a heatwave, while France is burning and when many French people could not afford to go on vacation, the president is having fun on a jet ski in Bregancon,” he said.

Communist Senator Pierre Ouzoulias called the photos “inappropriate”.