Disillusionment is high among the French public, who have seen cost-of-living pressures increase, and who are faced with increasingly dire warnings that any future government will likely have to make deep spending cuts in order to finance spiralling levels of debt.
On top of that, the recent unrest has played out against the backdrop of a polarised political landscape and with France preparing for what could be the most divisive and unpredictable election period in a generation.
Macron will leave office next spring and polls suggest a candidate from his centrist movement could fail to make it through to a run-off vote in May between the top two contenders.
That would likely leave French voters to choose between the hard-right National Rally and radical-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed).
Leading figures from both parties have levelled the blame for the disorder at Macron and his ministers, sensing fertile ground among the French public after a period in which his centrist party has struggled to form functioning governments and pass legislation.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader and presidential candidate of La France Insoumise, has criticised what he has framed as heavy-handed policing of demonstrations and has accused Macron of “destroying the republican state” by imposing restrictions.
He has called on his supporters to join protests on Saturday as he did the previous week, before condemning the rioting which followed.
A two-day National Rally conference in Orléans, around 120 km (75 miles) to the south of Paris, could prove to be a flashpoint on Saturday.
Left-wing groups are expected to descend on the small city, where thousands of members of the hard-right party are set to gather to hear its leader Marine Le Pen speak.
This week, the city’s mayor warned the numbers expected in Orléans were “unprecedented”, and said thousands of police would be deployed to manage any clashes, adding that public transport would be suspended.
Opinion polls suggest Le Pen could have her strongest chance yet of becoming president as she runs for a fourth time, despite a court finding her guilty of embezzling EU funds earlier this year. She has denied committing any offence and is appealing the verdict.
