A heavy silence reigns in the Murat salon at the Elysée. We are on the eve of the verdict of the Elders on the pension reform, on this morning of Thursday April 13, and Emmanuel Macron has just slammed a remonstrance in the Council of Ministers which has everything of a warning for the weeks to come: “I invites you to talk less about yourself and talk more about France.” A stray bullet, dry and cold, for all those who may feel concerned, as the Head of State knows so well how to draw from it. He is a bit annoyed: by those who jostle while waiting to see Elisabeth Borne fall and by the passes of arms of some of the members of his government through the media. Ladies and gentlemen Darmanin, Beaune, Schiappa, Rome, among others, you have the right to feel targeted. But perhaps the President of the Republic is also anticipating the consequences of his “hundred days” speech which he will deliver four days later: no doubt he knows that during this parenthesis supposed to conclude the July 14, the beasts will be released.
One night is enough. The day after Emmanuel Macron’s address to the French, on April 17, the officials of the government team shared radio microphones and television sets to deliver, explain, even spice up the presidential speech. And who better than Bruno Le Maire, Gérald Darmanin and Gabriel Attal to spice up the roadmap established the day before? Operation seduction of the middle classes initiated: “The president wants us to talk concretely, to address these people who have repeated to us a thousand times that before making them work for two more years, they would already like us to make sure that the whole mode works. There is the desire for a somewhat abrasive speech on the subject”, slips a member of the government. And too bad for “appeasement”…
It is a question of reconquering as much as possible this France of median wages, threshold effects and the feeling of injustice. The Three Musketeers, as they were nicknamed The echoesthe heavy artillery comes out about the RSA: Darmanin evokes “sanctions” for idle beneficiaries, Attal defends his project to fight against social and tax fraud and announces “a Marshall plan for the middle classes”, and Le Maire s wins: “Our compatriots, legitimately, are fed up with fraud, to see people who can receive aid that they pay […] and send them back to the Maghreb or elsewhere, when they have no right to do so.”
In short, everyone does the work in their own way and, of course, lawsuits for righting, even triangulation of the National Rally, are raining down on the ranks of the left. But not only: in the entourage of the president, some fall from the clouds in front of the various arguments. There is like a small gap between the soft version of the head of state and the big red version that stains ministers on mission. “These are not musketeers but the cardinal’s guards,” grumbled an intimate friend of Emmanuel Macron, frankly turned against them. These are excesses of zeal, especially on the RSA: the president spoke of support, he not say ‘with the whistle, everyone gets back to work!‘. The hunt for the poor is not open.” The tenant of the Elysée himself had little taste for the outings of his three soldiers: not so much on the merits, although he is probably not tempted to go that far. , but above all because he suspects them of taking part in the Lépine demarcation contest. Playing their little music and the next shot, contrary to his warning. The Mayor, Darmanin, Attal? Participating in a race of little horses in such an uncertain moment? No, really, it would be bad to know them…
Elisabeth Borne, who repeats at will that the period imposes to avoid the hysterization of the debates as much as possible, is surprised and despairs in private of the exit of the boss of Bercy: “It does not look like him, it was anything”, we could hear grumbling in the corridors of Matignon. “On this one, Bruno is a mixture of a man in a permanent campaign and a good student who fails. In addition to talking nonsense, he wanted to play it populo”, blows another pillar of the government in a great burst laughing. The Prime Minister, determined to cling to her post despite what strongly resembles a last CDD, is anything but naive, well aware that everyone is trying to push their own subjects to place themselves. And build a stature: “Gabriel decided some time ago that he was no longer on the left but on the center-right, because he dreams of being Prime Minister, even President, at one time or another”, slices one of his colleagues.
Stone by stone – and resounding declaration after resounding declaration – Gérald Darmanin is building his social right base, combining sovereign firmness, valuing work and increasing low wages. “At least he’s the only one of the three to have already seen an RSA beneficiary in his life”, blows an unofficial adviser to Emmanuel Macron, who is however not the biggest fan of the former mayor of Tourcoing . On the set of LCI, Darmanin had the pleasure of announcing that speeding less than 5 kilometers per hour will no longer be penalized by a withdrawal of points on the driving license. The Minister of the Interior finally won his case: he had launched the idea last summer, provoking, at the time, the ire of Elisabeth Borne. The Elysee has decided. Mr. Darmanin, move forward one space. But who knows how many rolls of the dice will throw its most ambitious competitors: the horses are galloping and the race will end on July 14.