Jacques Serais / Photo credit: REMKO DE WAAL / ANP MAG / ANP via AFP
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8:32 a.m., April 17, 2023
After the promulgation of the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron will speak this Monday evening, during a televised address. In front of the French, the latter will try to set his new priorities for the rest of his five-year term. But in his entourage, we warn: “It will not be the big night”.
Three days after the validation of the pension reform by the Constitutional Council and two days after its promulgation in the Official Journal, Emmanuel Macron will speak to the French this Monday evening at 8 p.m. This televised address is eagerly awaited as the Head of State seems to be without a solution to breathe new life into his five-year term in the face of the significant opposition aroused by the postponement of the legal age of departure to 64 years.
“Set priorities”
And the stakes are high for the president, who wants to turn the page and continue his action. But the latter seems without solutions, before his speech at 8 p.m. So, he will meet earlier in the day at the Elysee Palace with his Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, as well as several ministers and majority executives. Final consultations revealing a certain improvisation of the President at this pivotal moment.
What will he say? “Affirm the course, set the priorities and show determination”, answers one of his advisers from the shadows. In other words, the President of the Republic will try to relaunch a failed start to the second five-year term. But will Emmanuel Macron’s words to the nation be enough to convince the French?
A speech that will not erase the wounds
Some members of the government plead for a major ministerial upheaval with new incarnations, while others defend the idea of moving forward flexibly, step by step. “It will not be the big night. The rifle is not armed for that”, deciphers a minister.
As usual, Emmanuel Macron will weigh every word of his statement until the last moment, even if he has few illusions: his speech will not erase the wounds of the battle for pensions.