“Nothing is fixed, nothing is decided, everything can change at any time”, said the presidency to journalists, before adding this truism, in an even more enigmatic tone: “We can only ignore which is not”. The hypothesis of a televised interview Friday for the National Day, which still held the rope last week, now seems less certain, even in the process of being ruled out.
A solemn address is, it, outright excluded by the presidential entourage, which is limited to ensuring that he will return “in front of the French before the summer break”. On April 17, by decreeing “a hundred days of appeasement” and “action” to end the pension crisis which had plagued the start of his second five-year term, the president had nevertheless made an appointment on July 14 for “a first assessment”.
The promise of the hundred days respected according to the entourage of Emmanuel Macron
The death of young Nahel, killed on June 27 by a police officer during a roadside check, and the consecutive nights of urban violence have heightened expectations: if he was constantly on the move, Emmanuel Macron did not addressed directly to the French on his response. July 14 should therefore allow him to specify the direction he intends to take following his mandate. Not expressing oneself would be “baroque”, is surprised therefore a framework of the presidential camp. “Lunar”, adds an adviser to the executive.
In the entourage of Emmanuel Macron, it is estimated that “the promise of the hundred days of action has been largely kept”, with a president back in contact with the French to launch important projects, such as the reform of the bac professional and the measures to revitalize the hexagonal industry while greening it.
“It was predicted that after the retreats, the executive would be hampered and that Parliament would be blocked, it is clear that this is not the case,” it adds. But for the time being, it is Elisabeth Borne who has publicly taken stock of the “hundred days”.
“We have delivered,” said the Prime Minister in an interview with the newspaper The Parisian Sundayas if to confirm, with this Anglicism boasting of the results obtained, the “techno” image that sticks to his skin.
“Close this page”
This interview, and the appointment she gave to unions and employers on Wednesday to set the social agenda for the coming months, could appear as so many signs of a head of government confirmed in her post. However, in Macronie, no one ventures to draw such a conclusion, including those who, a fortnight ago, were certain that Ms. Borne had won a new reprieve.
Because at the end of last week, the rumor machine was again packed, predicting an imminent reshuffle during the weekend. An important minister even admits that he expected a change at Matignon on Friday. And then the weekend passed…and nothing like that happened.
“The entourages and the different circles push their thesis without knowing what will really happen”, deciphers an adviser to the executive. Translation of a macronist framework: some close to Emmanuel Macron continue to push insistently to replace Elisabeth Borne by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, a fortiori after the riots and the priority given to the restoration of order. This week, the agenda of the Head of State is full.
It will be Monday evening until Wednesday evening in Lithuania for the NATO summit. On Thursday, he will chair a Council of Ministers, speak at the Hôtel de Brienne for the traditional reception of the Ministry of the Armed Forces before the National Day, and will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his guest of honor until Friday. July 14 military parade.
This postpones a reshuffle, which many around him continue to deem essential to oust the weak links, until next weekend at the earliest. The option of a resignation at that time of Ms. Borne, who would be immediately renamed by Emmanuel Macron to form a new team, was circulating internally, without being guaranteed. “You have to know how to close this page, that everyone is fixed on the rest”, sighs a minister in the hot seat.