Correcting, at the margin, the vicissitudes of his government: that is now done, with the exit and therefore the entry of eight ministers, mostly from the National Assembly and the circle of the faithful. Emmanuel Macron dithered for a long time to find out what scale and what color he was going to give to his new system, which would inevitably reflect his own ambition and his own timetable. A reshuffle – a real one – is never a simple game of musical chairs, but always the instrument of a political turning point. From a new message. From a new chapter.
Reason why, for several days, the entourage of the Head of State insisted not to speak of “reshuffle” but of “adjustments” all that is most operational. “I have chosen continuity and efficiency for the times that are opening up before us”, confirmed Emmanuel Macron this Friday morning in the Council of Ministers, in an astonishing communication exercise. Filmed and broadcast throughout his introductory remarks, the President of the Republic, who seemed to be addressing his ministers as much as viewers of the news channels continuously, took the opportunity to make a few additional corrections. To repair what his silence and his hesitations had caused during this “baroque” week, to say the least, where republican traditions were somewhat shaken up…
Emmanuel Macron’s three corrections
Little a : correct the reinstatement of its Prime Minister. Neither speech nor official press release, Emmanuel Macron barely mentioned it during the two end-of-year drinks, at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday and at the Ministry of Relations with Parliament on Wednesday evening. By maintaining Élisabeth Borne in her post via “off” from her entourage in various press organs, the President of the Republic has voluntarily or not – but doubt remains allowed… – given the signal that he did not want to completely strengthen the head of government. Worse, perhaps he shot himself in the foot, giving his Prime Minister a good reason to insist on putting his paw on the upcoming reshuffle.
Emmanuel Macron’s first words this Friday morning were, it seems, intended to repair what must have been a misunderstanding: the Head of State explained that appointing Elisabeth Borne a year ago had been “a strong choice, not just symbolic” and assured that he had “clearly reaffirmed his confidence in the Prime Minister” at the start of the week. This is not the case ; but it’s already taken for the tenant of Matignon, seated opposite him, fully aware that she remains, more than ever, a fuse already on the verge of blowing.
Small b: correct the hopes of “big night” that he himself had raised. We are therefore the day after the “hundred days”, this period of transition after the political crisis caused by pensions, and you had missed it, it is completely normal. By using this concept, incorporated into his April speech at the very last minute, the president locked himself into a narrative he struggled to come to terms with. It has been said, told, written enough: Emmanuel Macron loves nothing more than his freedom, even though it is Emmanuel Macron who takes it away from him and imposes deadlines on him. “We can see that the sequence enchants him, we are on a big enthusiasm on his side …”, squeaks ironically one of his unofficial advisers. “He didn’t want to make any changes before July 14, he didn’t want to be asked painful questions about the hundred days, all of this pisses him off!”, Analyzes another of his regular interlocutors.
In front of the members of his government, the Head of State then declined the program for the weeks and months to come, and in particular four axes which constitute the course of the executive: employment (reindustrialization, the fall in unemployment); progress (public services, education); ecological planning and finally the republican order. Either, more or less, the four main pillars on which his presidential campaign rested. And if Emmanuel Macron put on the table the emergencies of the summer (reconstruction after the riots, drought, purchasing power, access to health) and gave the Olympic Games as a horizon in which to “project the country”, his course sounds more like a confirmation than a revolution. The time for major upheavals, men and women, like the program, has not yet arrived. Let that be said, and well said, what better than a televised council of ministers to do it.
Small c: correct past mistakes. Admittedly, Emmanuel Macron proceeded to what a ministerial adviser calls a “reminima” – a reshuffle… at a minimum – but it is out of the question for him to end up with the same mistakes known for a year. This gave one of the most surprising passages of this public-private council of ministers: the president taking the French to witness in front of their television set to put a slight pressure on his ministers, as to their work and their behavior. Key words: requirement and exemplarity.
“It is expected of members of the government to be at work, you are watched in all the details of your action and your lives […] Ministers lead their administration. Being a minister is not about talking in the post, it is about implementing decisions that correspond to a strategy, a policy that the Prime Minister leads, “he hammered, literally and figuratively, literally banging his fist on the Council table. Advice that sounds like warnings, after the difficulties experienced in particular by Pap Ndiaye in Education or François Braun in Health. New entrants will have all summer to revise, renew them to get up to speed.
This true-false address to the French, by interposed village hall of the Élysée, will it constitute the only declaration of the President of the Republic? Those around him seem to think not: Emmanuel Macron could, between now and his departure for New Caledonia, speak again for, this time, not to close the sequence “for the journalistic machine”, says one of his relatives, but to “go to the roots of the country”. “It has to be original, he’s fed up with always doing the same thing, pleads one of his regular interlocutors. The question is: what do we propose to do for and with people? Today, it’s not clear in anyone’s head. ” This certainly cannot be integrated into the logic of “continuity” promoted by the Head of State. These are no longer corrections to be made, but a real new challenge to be met.