Present on BFM on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre Raffarin congratulated the Prime Minister and assured her of his full support. The former Prime Minister also shared his advice, calling for “proximity” as an essential value in democracy.
Invited on BFMTV and RMC the day after the appointment of Elisabeth Borne at Matignon, Jean-Pierre Raffarin returned to the choice of the President of the Republic. Having held this position under Jacques Chirac, he boasted to his successor of “exceptional qualities”, ensuring that she “is at the level of the function”. “She has the experience and the skills, she is a solid person. She does not allow herself to be manipulated by false scientists, she does not let herself be carried around, ”he explained. He also warned: “But she must not let herself be locked into bureaucracy. (…) We need a more active parliament, a more lively decentralization, a more agitated and structured social democracy, to protect the president who is far too exposed”, pleaded the former senator and European deputy.
Regarding the techno side that Elisabeth Borne can represent, Jean-Pierre Raffarin preferred to put things into perspective. “When you have been at the Ministry of Labour, you become political. She already had a political conscience, committing to the left a few years ago,” he defended. For him, the mission of the Prime Minister will be to “protect the president” and to be the “leader of the majority” to avoid the risk of “exposing the president” which would lead him to “a situation of attrition which is a brake on action.
Faced with the Jupiterian side of Emmanuel Macron, the former Prime Minister called for “sharing leadership”, recalling that President Macron was eagerly awaited on the European scene. “We must create debate, parliament must not simply be a recording chamber”, he declared, also asking to “hear the diversities of region, generation, culture” with “debates and compromise” while protecting “the essence of the government’s strategy.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin poses as a wise adviser
The former Prime Minister returned to inequalities, promoting proximity. “France from below is France which is not listened to, not calculated by Paris. We talk about metropolises, but there are plenty of small towns that are alive and that feel isolated. This France there, it is necessary to associate it. There has been progress in terms of land use planning, the beauty of our cities. The decisions remained Parisian, the power is distant. Proximity is the number one value of democracy. Democracy needs respect,” he said.
Regarding the pace of reforms, Jean-Pierre Raffarin presented his vision for a successful five-year term. “The difficult reforms, they have to be done at the start of the five-year term. It is a project that must be in the first half of the five-year term. Time will pass and legitimacy is dwindling… Her Prime Minister knows what social work is, she was at the RATP. A pension reform, it does not take place on television sets, it is with the unions that it happens, ”he assured.
Asked about the situation of his former party, Les Républicains, he lamented that the choice of party was not clear. “We left LR with Alain Juppé and a few others because we didn’t want to let people choose between Le Pen and Macron. We, between them, we do not hesitate, we are with Macron. It was the lesson of Chirac, we do not compromise with the National Front, we do not compromise with extremism” he recalled.
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