Satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo is set to stir controversy once more after depicting French President Emmanuel Macron mixed with Notre Dame cathedral on fire on its latest cover.
The cover image shows the French leader’s face with his hair styled as the facade of the iconic cathedral while on fire for its latest issue with the caption “Reforms” and Macron stating, “I will start with the bones,” Il Giornale reports.
The reference has a double meaning in that it follows comments made by the French president to rebuild the Notre Dame cathedral following the tragic fire on Monday evening that did enormous damage to the structure and destroyed the centuries-old roof.
It also refers to the ongoing issues Macron has faced from the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) movement which has protested every Saturday against his policies since the 17th of November and has demanded severe reforms, including the introduction of Citizen Initiated Referendums (RIC) to allow voters to enact and repeal laws.
The RIC issue has become a central focus of the Yellow Vest movement and some polls have shown it to have a broad appeal across France with a survey published in January revealing that 80 per cent of French supported the concept.
Macron has also promised reforms and has conducted a “Grand Debate” over the last several months, although polls show a majority of French are highly sceptical that his government will listen to their responses to it.
The cartoon is not the first time Charlie Hebdo has struck out against Macron.
In the first days of his presidential victory in 2017, the magazine published a cover of Macron and his much older wife Brigitte with the latter pregnant under the caption “He’s going to work miracles!”
The cover, like many of their covers, sparked controversy with some French social media users accusing the publication of sexism.
While satire has often brought heavy criticism on Charlie Hebdo, it also brought tragedy in 2015 when radical Islamic terrorists attacked the offices of the magazine, killing 12 members of staff.
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