During the press conference scheduled for this Tuesday, January 16, at 8:15 p.m., Emmanuel Macron intends to relaunch his five-year term by specifying a (new?) political course. The head of state also seizes the opportunity to establish his authority over the newly appointed government.
18:16 – A referendum? Macron’s biggest surprise in 2024?
After almost a five-year period without a press conference, Politico reports that certain interlocutors indulged in very original hypotheses concerning Emmanuel Macron’s potential announcements this Tuesday evening. One of them going so far as to mention an “institutional reform” and, why not even, a referendum. A speculation also mentioned by a Renaissance executive, who specifies for his part that the said referendum would concern “several questions” and even “several subjects”, the aim not being to “divide the country in two”.
18:05 – Majority parliamentarians divided after their last meeting
Macron’s “cuddle therapy” did not convince his parliamentarians. “2023 has collectively put you to the test and I am not unaware of it,” Emmanuel Macron conceded in front of the deputies and senators of his camp. The President of the Republic brought together his parliamentarians on Monday January 15 for a champagne aperitif at the Elysée. The opportunity to draw conclusions from a difficult year. If some participants welcomed a “mobilizing” speech, others came away with doubts. “Tomorrow, like all French people, we will discover the announcements on TV.” lamented a guest to BFMTV.
17:56 – When will the government be complete?
The appointment of the secretaries of state was announced in the week of January 15, the week following the announcement of the first 14 members of the government. But while Gabriel Attal’s general policy speech seems to have been pushed back to the week of January 22, the end of the reshuffle could also be postponed by a few days. No deadline or deadline requires the Prime Minister to rush, not even the Council of Ministers to which the Secretaries of State are only invited by invitation. What justifies the postponement of the appointment of secretaries of state? Persistent disagreements? A game of musical chairs with ministers not reappointed, but having to remain in government? No one knows, but a week after the reshuffle, the ministerial team is still not complete. A theme that could be addressed during journalists’ questions this Tuesday evening, during Emmanuel Macron’s press conference.
17:48 – Mathilde Panot (LFI) calls on Macron to “appoint himself Prime Minister next time”
The left did not fail to be surprised by the fact that Emmanuel Macron was speaking before Gabriel Attal’s general policy declaration before Parliament scheduled for next week. “Perhaps Matignon no longer exists,” quipped the leader of LFI deputies Mathilde Panot, calling on the head of state to “appoint himself Prime Minister next time.”
17:37 – Jordan Bardella pessimistic about the announcements of the head of state
The oppositions have already expressed their skepticism about the announcements to be expected from this press conference, from 8:15 p.m. on TF1, France 2 and the news channels: “We will be disappointed, most certainly, like many French people”, commented the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella.
17:28 – Time to discuss the Oudéa-Castéra case?
The Head of State has, for the moment, not mentioned the first crisis which is already undermining the regeneration of the second five-year term, concerning the schooling of the children of the new Minister of Education Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. She was greeted with boos when she went this Tuesday to the Parisian public school from which she had taken her eldest son to put him in the private sector. She presented her “apologies” to the teachers for having questioned them on Friday by mentioning “packages of hours not seriously replaced” in the public. This press conference should be an opportunity to return to this episode and the arrival of certain ministers in the government.
17:19 – Macron wants to “press the accelerator with strong measures”
Emmanuel Macron called on his troops on Monday evening to “keep” their “unity” and to “mobilize” for the next European election, at the beginning of June, around the government of Gabriel Attal. “Boldness, boldness, boldness”, he insisted in front of the majority parliamentarians, setting the tone for this “Year II” of the five-year term. The presidential majority emerged fractured from the debate on immigration law, and questions remain about the ability of Gabriel Attal, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic, to impose his authority. He promised Tuesday before the deputies of his relative majority “to press the accelerator with strong measures”, but said he was “lucid” about the “uncertain” economic and “tense” political contexts.
17:10 – Announcements on public policies?
The President of the Republic should discuss national issues, as close as possible to the concerns of the French, but that is not all. This exceptional press conference could be an opportunity for Emmanuel Macron to make various announcements on issues of public policy, education or even ecology.
17:01 – “It’s the return of the ORTF”, taunts a socialist senator
The Head of State will speak at prime time (8:15 p.m.) and the press conference will be broadcast on all major French channels. For the president of the socialist group in the Senate Patrick Kanner, Emmanuel Macron “is imposing himself in homes, it is the return of the ORTF”.
16:57 – The press conference, a rare format for Emmanuel Macron
The president will speak from the Elysée village hall for an hour and a half to two hours. The last time Emmanuel Macron took part in a similar exercise was on April 25, 2019. He was then already seeking to get the executive out of a tense political context, at the end of the crisis of yellow vests.
16:45 – What will Emmanuel Macron’s press conference look like?
Accustomed to speeches or long interviews in the media, Emmanuel Macron this time decided to mark the occasion by giving a press conference. The meeting is set for 8:15 p.m. and will be broadcast on several channels, including TF1, France 2 or continuous news channels. The speech must begin with an introductory statement from the Head of State lasting 20 to 30 minutes, it is at this time that announcements must be made according to the Elysée.
The President of the Republic will then answer questions from journalists on different themes: upcoming reforms and announcements from the Head of State, political life whether on the reshuffle or in view of the European elections, and finally on the French and international news.