With the Yellow Vests crisis, the Covid-19 crisis and then the war in Ukraine, the five years of Emmanuel Macron’s first term were eventful. And his balance sheet criticized. But for Franz-Olivier Giesbert, writer and columnist, it was his lack of experience that weighed in the balance. “He had never been in politics, it’s completely insane. We elected someone who hadn’t even been a departmental councilor, not even a municipal councilor, nothing at all, and who moreover gloried in it And hey. Now, politics, I’m sorry, it’s a profession that can be learned. It takes a lot of patience. You have to listen to everyone, including the cons”, tackles the editorialist.
A lack of experience that the president lacked
For Giesbert, the mandate of Emmanuel Macron “did not leave much” to the French. “His balance sheet, it fits on a metro ticket, without being very controversial,” he says.
And the various successive crises do not constitute an attenuating circumstance. “There are always excuses. You know, Giscard had two oil shocks in the face. It was still something else the oil shock than the Covid-19 or than the Yellow Vests. An oil shock, it was a recession of at least ten points. It’s frightening what he had to endure and it didn’t prevent him from making reforms, “adds the writer.
Very critical of the re-elected outgoing president, the editorialist still wants to temporize: “I think Emmanuel Macron’s problem is that he didn’t know. He was an intern, he was trying to see how it worked. worked. He learned. And we can be sure that the second term will be better than the first. So, I think there is no problem because there, this time, we elected someone still who says who knows how to govern, knows how to preside”, he concedes.
Talk to “peripheral France”
According to the editorialist, Emmanuel Macron must also learn to address a part of France that does not carry him in his heart: “peripheral France”, according to the expression of Christophe Guilluy. “I hope he thinks about it well and doesn’t fall back into his usual streak.”
He evokes the inhabitants of small and medium-sized towns, with a large daily commute to get to work, and with declining purchasing power with the rise in the price of gasoline. “We must not forget them.”
What profile for his next Prime Minister?
As the legislative elections are fast approaching, Emmanuel Macron has still not announced the name of his Prime Minister, who will succeed Jean Castex. The president is looking for a left-wing personality, and preferably a woman. Problem: already two potential candidates have declined the offer, Véronique Bédague, the former chief of staff of Manuel Valls and the socialist Valérie Rabault.
“He may not give enough guarantees as a boss, he may not be protective enough”, analyzes Franz-Olivier Giesbert. “And I think that there too, it is a mistake of youth, which can be corrected. When we say ‘we want a woman and someone on the left, a woman on the left’, we should not lock in this kind of remarks. When you are President of the Republic, you take the best profile, “he adds. For the editorialist, Emmanuel Macron has good soil within his majority to find candidates, it is up to him to make good use of it.