Entangled for 24 hours in the controversy around his vacation in Ibiza, just before the start of the school year in January and the confusion around the health protocol in schools, Jean-Michel Blanquer admitted “perhaps a bit of an error” to the 8:00 p.m. newspaper of TF1. Above all, the Minister of Education seems to regret having lent his side to the opponents of the government in the midst of the presidential campaign.
“It was perhaps a bit of a mistake”, admitted Jean-Michel Blanquer, Monday evening on TF1, at the end of a day marked by controversy around his stay in Ibiza, just before the start of the school year in January, so that the health protocol was decided in the schools. The announcement of this new protocol, the day before the start of the school year in the daily Le Parisien, had provoked the exasperation of the teachers, in full concern aroused by the Omicron wave. The disorganization created in the schools, with students having to multiply the tests and directors overwhelmed by administrative tasks, then the reduction of this protocol on several occasions, had led to a feeling of confusion and fed up among the staff. education. A major strike followed on January 13. Mediapart revealed on Monday evening that the minister was in Ibiza when he announced this controversial protocol. These holidays took place a few days before the minister’s wedding on Saturday at the end of the day in Paris in a small committee, AFP learned from political sources.
“It turns out that the place I chose, I should probably have chosen another. The symbolism, I regret it,” said Jean-Michel Blanquer during questions to the government in the National Assembly. He did, however, claim that he would not have made “different decisions” if he had “been somewhere else”. “It was perhaps a bit of a mistake”, he then conceded to the 8:00 p.m. newspaper of TF1, acknowledging above all having lent the flank to the opponents of the government in the midst of the presidential campaign, still because of the symbolic charge of the place, synonymous with parties: “If the place had to be changed, yes of course, I would change. But basically it wouldn’t change anything”. The minister, however, felt that “if we look at things coldly, we should not beat our necks every day either because the adversaries want to destabilize you”. “Is it normal or not to take a vacation for a member of the government? Nobody can think that it is perfectly abnormal. I took 4 days off and I worked during these 4 days. It’s been two years since I gave myself body and soul to keep the school open. I’ve been fighting for that for two years, “said Jean-Michel Blanquer, before adding:” Did I break any rules? rules? The answer is no”.
Castex’s chief of staff would have advised Blanquer not to go to the Balearic Islands
The controversy weakens a Minister of Education already undermined by a very well-attended strike. For the teachers’ unions, these holidays are “a terrible symbol”. “It widens the gap that already existed between the minister and his staff even more,” reacted to AFP Guislaine David, general secretary of SNUipp-FSU, the first primary union. It is “the symbol of a great casualness and a great lightness”, adds Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the first union of the second degree (colleges, high schools). For Stéphane Crochet, secretary general of SE-Unsa, “this revelation is the illustration of the distance and the gap between the minister and the health reality”. Mediapart’s revelations come before a new day of mobilization and strike in schools on Thursday, at the call of several unions, to demand “strong responses” in the face of the “chaos” caused by the Covid crisis. “There is really a loss of legitimacy and credibility of this minister”, who “is no longer worthy of his function”, considers Guislaine David. “We will have to calm the anger of the teachers”.
On the side of the political class, the left is again demanding his resignation. “Enough is enough. Jean-Michel Blanquer must resign,” reacted the president of the LFI group in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, in a tweet. The environmental candidate for the presidential Yannick Jadot evoked a “level of contempt and irresponsibility (which) is not acceptable”. “We are in the presidential period, so the word resignation will be pronounced by many candidates very often”, reacted Mr. Blanquer on TF1. On the right, Othman Nasrou, vice-president of the Île-de-France region and spokesperson for LR presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse, called on the minister to “explain the circumstances and the reasons for this fiasco” .
Jean-Michel Blanquer, however, received the support of the Prime Minister. “I gave clear instructions: not to be more than two hours, two and a half hours from Paris and to be reachable at all times. Did Mr. Blanquer respect these instructions? The answer is yes,” said Jean Castex to journalists, on the sidelines of a trip to a Parisian brasserie. “Could the ministers take a few days off during the Christmas holidays? The answer is obviously yes, if only to be ready for the start of the school year,” he explained, pointing out that the Minister of Education had “gone on vacation for a few days at a time when all schools, colleges and high schools were closed”. And the head of government to conclude: “Did the fact that Mr. Blanquer or certain colleagues were on vacation prevented us from making the decisions as soon as we had the material and the necessary elements? The answer is no, the state apparatus has worked”. According to an AFP source within the executive confirming information from Politico, Nicolas Revel, the chief of staff of Prime Minister Jean Castex, had advised Mr. Blanquer against going to the Balearic Islands in view of the context.
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