PARIS, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron saw his popularity dip by 10 percentage points in August, his worst score since he took office in May 2017, a poll showed on Tuesday.
An Ifop survey found 31 percent of 1,015 respondents gave the 40-year-old president a positive vote, a popularity rating which is lower than that of any other president at any time in their term.
The pollster said that during the same period in 2013, former president Francois Hollande was given favorable opinions by 32 percent of respondents.
In France's most recent presidential contest, Macron scored high. He pledged to inject new life into the stagnant domestic economy and to add a youthful enthusiasm to a political landscape heavily tarnished by corruption.
A total of 16 months on, winds are against him with more than two thirds of French people saying they are unhappy with his economic roadmap; 78 percent believe he did not care about their concerns.
This underlines the hard task facing Macron and his centrist government in gaining momentum at a time when critics are stepping up opposition to tax reform and the economy is accelerating slower than expected.
To ifop deputy general director Frederic Dabi, Macron's sliding popularity mirrored "a real disappointment and a demand for results, adding to the feeling that his policy is unfair and is only favorable to the rich."
Since taking office, Macron has been devoted to his reforms despite that they have brought thousands of people to the streets in protest and triggering a month-long strike in the rail sector.
However, his status has been shaken by the "Benalla affair," which according to Dabi, was "a slow poison" that undermined Macron's leadership style.
Alexandre Benalla, once Macron's security officer and deputy chief of staff, was under investigation for the violent beating of a protester on May 1.
Adding salt to the wound, ecology minister Nicolas Hulot's resignation during a live radio interview last week further exposed the president's weakness.
Macron also needs to breathe new life into his staff and needs to be faster to act and more attentive to the citizens' concerns, according to analyst Christophe Barbier who spoke with news channel BFMTV.
"Macron has to change his ruling style. He must know that the character which may have pleased people months ago has become obsolete," Barbier said.
In a minor reshuffle, the head of state appointed Francois de Rugy, the president of National Assembly and a former Green party lawmaker, to handle the ecology profile, in a move to brighten his environmental credentials and assuage silent critics ahead of a European election, a major political test for the majority.
Roxana Maracineanu, a Romanian-born French former swimmer and Olympic champion was named sports minister to replace Laura Flessel who announced her resignation earlier on Tuesday, citing "personal reasons."
The two ministers' surprise exits are widely seen as a fresh blow to Macron, who is already under pressure to embark on a new wave of fiscal reform which is likely to prompt robust opposition.
