Emmanuel Macron seeks the rebound after the failure of the “meetings” in Saint-Denis

2023-11-27 19:25:24
Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysée, November 21, 2023. SARAH MEYSSONNIER / REUTERS

The day after the first “meetings” in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), which brought together Emmanuel Macron and the party leaders, on August 30, the Elysée mentioned “a great moment of politics, unity, recognition and responsibility”. Olivier Véran, Minister Delegate responsible for democratic renewal, welcomed this “unprecedented process”Who “could well make history”.

Nothing like this the day after the last “meetings”, which were held under the shelter of the same walls of the royal abbey, on November 17. And for good reason. In the absence of half of the opposition parties – La France insoumise, the Socialist Party and The Republicans (LR) –, “the major political initiative” stood still. The defection of the president of LR, Eric Ciotti, whose support has been ardently sought by the executive for a year and a half, took the head of state by surprise. ” You can not do this ! », said the Secretary General of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, on the telephone, after Mr. Ciotti announced that he would not go to Saint-Denis. Neither the head of state nor his right-hand man saw this change of heart coming.

The boycott of these parties did not make it possible to agree on much on November 17, except on the inclusion of voluntary termination of pregnancy in the Constitution and on the holding of“foundations of parliamentary diplomacy and decentralized cooperation”, the principle of which had already been adopted in August. In the absence of consensus, there will be no constitutional revision to extend the scope of the referendum to social issues or to facilitate the implementation of the shared initiative referendum.

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A situation from which the Elysée is, despite everything, trying to take advantage. “It is the merit of these meetings to purge a political debate on which the political class could have been divided for months”, they say in those around Emmanuel Macron. In other words, the “meetings” will at least have saved time.

“Purge conflicting topics”

In his “summary letter” addressed to participants on November 20, the Head of State plans to “continue the common roadmap” that he has “began to decline since August 30”. A way of trying not to lose face. But it does not set any review clause.

With the “meetings” in Saint-Denis, imagined after the riots which paralyzed the country at the beginning of July, the Head of State stood strong, in the absence of a majority in the National Assembly, “to bring together around a clear and simple project all those who want to find their way”among the political forces of the country, “without asking them to adhere to everything”.

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