From Nouméa, Emmanuel Macron advocates “the return to authority” and notes his lack of a majority in the National Assembly

2023-07-25 05:00:08
Emmanuel Macron, in Noumea, New Caledonia, July 24, 2023. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

Silent on the evening of the national holiday, Emmanuel Macron finally spoke to the French on Monday July 24. From Nouméa, in New Caledonia, where he has just landed for a tour of Oceania, the President of the Republic granted an interview, in duplex, to the 1 p.m. newspapers of TF1 and France 2, to close the parenthesis of the hundred days that he had granted himself on March 22 in order to“appease” the country, after the crisis caused by the pension reform.

Ten days have passed since the appointment initially set for July 14 and more than 16,000 kilometers separate the Head of State from Paris, but the President of the Republic proves that he “keep your word”defends one of its strategists.

In the heart of summer, after his words on Friday, addressed to the ministers of a freshly reshuffled government, a “1 p.m.” allows to speak “to French people who watch TV”assures the Elysée, not doubting an audience success.

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After the hesitation of the last few weeks concerning the future of his Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, who was finally kept in office on Monday, Emmanuel Macron assures us that he has opted for “confidence, continuity and efficiency “. But without quite dispelling the impression that this is a default choice. Praising his own action, more than that of the head of government, he talks about his “decisions and his travels – from « Perols [Hérault] in Vendome [Loir-et-Cher], from Serre-Ponçon [Hautes-Alpes] in Paris, from Marseille to Strasbourg” – to illustrate the success of this period.

“Small Revolutions”

“Remember, a hundred days ago, we were told that the country would be at a standstill and that there would no longer be a trip without pots! », welcomes the Head of State, listing the projects launched, relaunched or highlighted – full employment and reindustrialisation, ecology with the decarbonisation of industry, the revival of nuclear power, the water plan to deal with drought, or the increase in budgets for justice and the armies. And he insists on education, “huge construction site”, whose portfolio is now held by Gabriel Attal. Coming alive at the mention of the teacher pact, allowing teachers to be better paid, Emmanuel Macron promises that at the start of the school year, each student will have a teacher in front of him.

“It’s a series of small revolutions”, which will be put in place, he continues, recalling the announcements made, in particular, during his trip to Marseille at the end of June, such as the reception of children from 2 years old at school in neighborhoods in difficulty, the opening from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. of colleges in sensitive areas, half an hour of systematic sport in primary school or the reform of vocational high schools. He also sketches the “common sense changes” which will have to improve the baccalaureate reform and Parcoursup so that the student orientation platform no longer looks like a “machine that delivers results”.

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