EDITORIAL – The President of the Republic will speak this Wednesday at 1 p.m. Two days after the adoption of the pension reform, which has led to fierce protests everywhere in France, what role can it play? Above all that of an authentic president.
To preside is to lead. But it also means ” to take care “, “to be a protector”, from the Greek “proistemi” (προΐστημι). Citizens expect Emmanuel Macron to honor this dual role: that of leader and protector. A president who decides to come to the aid of all French people and who is not solely at the service of a minority. A president who also knows how to “occupy the place of honor” within the City, while showing consideration towards his compatriots.
Because the French have suffered in recent years. They made many sacrifices, some of which were disproportionate and in vain. There were the freedoms lost during the confinements. There was free and informed consent flouted, by an obligation to vaccinate “disguised” as a health pass.
And since last Monday, there has been the disappearance of one of the key symbols of the French social protection system: pensions. This reform, some consider it necessary. Others, failing to find in it a real and argued economic utility, see in it rather the claimed desire to bring down one of the last pillars of our social model.
Instead of this French specificity, the Anglo-Saxon economic ideology prevails, in the form of a big clearance sale which makes the happiness (and the profits) of American investment funds, such as Blackrock. An Atlanticist grip that has nothing to do with the balance of our societies, its chiseled protection systems with multiple popular and egalitarian nuances. Only the conquest of market shares counts, like what NATO does in the field of geopolitics.
It is no coincidence that this organization, a remnant of the past which should have disappeared with the end of the Warsaw Pact, considers France an embarrassing vassal: a country with an atypical, unpredictable society, neither fully loyal to the Anglo- Saxon, nor to Russian or Chinese models.
Against all these opposing forces that do not defend their interests, on the contrary, the French feel helpless and abandoned. Hence the expectation of a president who protects them. Hence the hope of hearing words which, finally, express a desire for resistance and care.
Here is the speech that the majority of the French people would like to hear. That of a president who knows where he is going and protects. A speech that Emmanuel Macron will never deliver:
“My dear compatriots,
We are French. The whole world envies our social system. From then on, we will not let anyone destroy or loot it. I heard your call, that of the France of the street. I failed to show you the economic necessity of this pension reform. I regret. Its adoption, with recourse to article 49 paragraph 3, was an error, the illustration of a denial of democracy.
My dear compatriots, I have understood that the people of France do not want this reform. Myself, remember, in 2017, I made a commitment not to touch the pension system. Since then, at the same time, I have taken a wrong turn. French, French, you are right. Pay-as-you-go retirement is an element that goes beyond the challenges of the contemporary economic world. He is our DNA. He aspires to the protection of the greatest number. I have to lead by example and be his first protector. His fate cannot be played on a stroke of 49.3 to within nine votes, that is to say three times nothing.
As guarantor of the proper functioning of the institutions, it is up to me, as President of the Republic, to restore social peace in our beautiful country. A country that deserves better than garbage cans burning in our City of Light, because of a narrow-minded policy.
This is why I decided “to proceed to a referendum” or “to dissolve the National Assembly” (cross out the useless mention).
Because in a democracy worthy of the name, it is the people who must always have the last word. A word which should not however be expressed in the street with vehement opinions, but in the ballot boxes, with convictions. In order to preserve our social harmony, for a return to the smooth running of our society, I choose the path of voting. If you don’t want this reform, reject it. »
This is the speech that a President of the Republic who cares about his fellow citizens and respectful of his office could hold. With honor. A president who knows how to lead, protect and stand up to history, even against the tide. Emmanuel Macron will never do it. Neither MEA culpaneither regret, nor Greek ideal, nor illustrious destiny: these elements were lacking in all the key moments of his presidency.
The French, once again, will soon attend a performance of Macron the VRP, of Macron the grocer. After saying “Get vaccinated, get vaccinated! »will he say “Insure your retirement in the private sector, make sure! » ?
Here, there is no contract of trust which he claims, but a new contract of mistrust and constraints. Like an eternal giver of lessons who never learned his own.
France is a great Nation. Many French people shine in the firmament of technical and scientific discoveries. Many French people have written the most beautiful pages in the history of culture and thought. Refractory from all walks of life to the submission of another administrative and political entity, no matter which one, the people of France have always known how to bounce back and find the path to their independence.
A path that goes concretely through sovereign agriculture, energy autonomy, engineering excellence, cultural exception… And of course, through a social model with unequaled comparative advantage. Macron will have wanted and done just the opposite. Individualism has replaced solidarity. The trivial has taken over. He succeeded in desecrating the presidential function.
national sovereignty which “belongs to the people”, according to Article 3 of the Constitution, has finished melting like snow in the sun. A predictable prospect after the refusal to recognize the French no to the Lisbon Treaty in 2005. Emmanuel Macron and Élisabeth Borne, Madame 49.3, trample on the principle of the Republic every day with insolence and contempt: “Government of the people, by the people and for the people. »
And during that time…
On the French domestic scene, we witness the use of verbiage and acts of war, of “we are at war” “we can claim victory” by Elisabeth Borne yesterday on BFMTV. While on the international stage, Putin and Xi Jinping are making history by jointly declaring in Moscow “a nuclear war must never happen” and establish the yuan as a new international trading currency. Matter of priorities, apparently.