Emmanuel Macron received, Wednesday, August 30 in Saint-Denis, the party leaders as part of his “major political initiative”. But the president has not committed to reforms or weighty measures.
Party leaders gathered aroundEmmanuel Macron, this Wednesday, August 30, on the occasion of the president’s project for a “major political initiative”. At the Legion of Honor school in Saint-Denis, politicians, leaders of all the “political forces represented in Parliament”, worked on the emergence of measures that could achieve consensus.
On the program of the discussions that were held: “the international situation”, “the cohesion of the Nation”, “the effectiveness” of “our public action”, “the place of the school” and questions around the “power purchase and inequality” and “integration”. Through this “major political initiative”, the Head of State hinted that he could be open to a referendum at the end of these round tables, “and why not even a preferendum (…) which is a concept that would allow us to test several subjects at the same time during the same referendum”, said Olivier Véran.
Announcements from Emmanuel Macron to come?
This Thursday, August 31, Olivier Véran, the spokesperson for the government, indicated that there should be no mistake about this initiative: for the executive, it was “consultations”, not “programming of future reforms “. “The president indicated what he wanted to wear, he listened to the representatives of the opposition, there will be a return, new exchanges,” he said on Thursday on France Info. Olivier Véran also described these meetings as “historic”: “People who don’t talk to each other, who don’t get along, who don’t understand each other, who don’t think the same thing, have decided to talk to each other behind closed doors. closed, decided to exchange, decided to share disagreements and disagreements, until the middle of the night,” he said.
It should be noted that these “Saint-Denis meetings”, the name given to this meeting between Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of the political parties present in Parliament, were carried out with the utmost discretion. Neither policy advisers nor cell phones were allowed into the meeting room. As for the press, it could not go further than in front of the steps of the education house of the Legion of Honor.
It was therefore when the party leaders came out of the meeting rooms that the first conclusions were presented by the main interested parties. Here are the first reactions:
- Eric Ciotti – LR: “There were no particular announcements. There were three main themes: one on the international scene, one on the reform of institutions, the other on the tensions that have crossed the country We’ll see what that leads to. I have a form of skepticism. I hope it won’t just be a communication operation.” After this meeting, “at worst nothing will happen, at best some proposals will prosper, those that we have made, those that I have brought in particular on a much more frequent recourse to referendum”
- Manuel Bompard – LFI: “A president above ground without an answer to the priorities of the start of the school year. The referendum on retirement at 64 is a no. The price freeze is a no. The indexation of wages on the inflation is no. Youth allowance is no”.
- Marine Tondelier – EELV: “We came, We saw, We were disappointed. The living is collapsing. The planet is gradually becoming uninhabitable. And these 12 hours of discussion seemed to me to be totally out of step with the environmental and social emergency “.
- Olivier Faure – PS: “It was done in a very civilized and at the same time very frank way”
- Fabien Roussel – PC: “Talking to each other is already a good thing. I proposed indexing wages to inflation. The president said no. I deeply regret it. […] There are subjects where we have points of disagreement. I don’t see how we will overcome them, let democracy and the French express themselves”.
- Jordan Bardelle – RN: “There is no conclusion at the moment. […] I told him what was on my heart, we will have to see what follow-up the president wishes to give, I hope to make him realize that the country can no longer continue in this direction.”
The government spokesperson, for his part, announced at the end of the Council of Ministers that a government seminar would be held on September 6, 2023 to follow up on the political initiative and the proposals resulting from the meeting of August 30. as well as “to address the issues on the merits but also from a methodological point of view”.
Concrete measures now?
Emmanuel Macron validated a proposal coming from the left: the creation of a “social conference”, relating “to careers and branches located below the minimum wage”, the information was confirmed to AFP by the entourage of the head of state. This is the only concrete line of work, resulting from the discussions, at this stage.
The opposition leaders had no shortage of proposals to make to the executive, but aware of the divisions and in view of the difficult exchanges between them and the majority, many called for referendums. The right and the extreme right, represented respectively by Eric Ciotti and Jordan Bardella, had migration policy in their sights, and wanted it to be put to a referendum.
On the left, the Nupes demands the consultation of the French on a completely different subject: a referendum on the pension reform, only a few months after its adoption and while the bill must take effect on Friday 1er September 2023. LFI, the PS, EELV and the PCF believe that this is “the only referendum project that the French people are waiting for”. The opposition of the citizens to this reform had manifested itself in the streets for several months before the forced adoption of the text by the 49.3.