De Gaulle, Aron, Mendès-France… It’s simple, he has a mouth full of great men, Bruno Roger-Petit, this famous Sunday June 9. After the triumph of the far right in the European elections (37%) and the meager score (14.6%) of the presidential majority, “BRP” (its nickname among insiders) and Jonathan Guémas, advisors to the President of the Republic , Emmanuel Macron, summoned the international press to an audio conference to explain, late in the evening, the choice to dissolve the National Assembly and call early legislative elections, on June 30 and July 7.
Special advisor in charge of communications and strategy, Jonathan Guémas deciphers the mechanics of this political poker game with Bruno Roger-Petit at his side, in theory a simple memory advisor. In theory only. “Democratic breathing”, “audacity, surpassing”, “moment of clarification”… The duo skilfully distills the elements of language. For several months, “BRP” and Jonathan Guémas have been the gunslingers the most prominent at the Elysée. This Sunday evening, the accomplices constructed a story much simpler and smoother than reality: until the afternoon, the scenario of the dissolution, which they had helped to prepare in secret for several weeks, had not been validated. Emmanuel Macron still hoped to exceed 20% and wait until the fall to draw down his card.
To give height to the work, Bruno Roger-Petit unearths a few quotes. “Pierre Mendès-France said: “In democracy, you have to convince.” I quote it often, I’m going to do it again this evening,” he begins. Then here is Raymond Aron and his “famous phrase”, “the story is tragic”, then, in response to a journalist’s question, boom! the “General” himself bursts in: “As de Gaulle said, it is circumstances that dictate decisions. Reasoning in a rigid way is playing petty politics. » The memory advisor zaps François Mitterrand, whom he nevertheless places at the top of his personal Pantheon. This is probably not the right time to summon the former socialist president, who left the memory of a deadly tango with Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front to stay in power. Emmanuel Macron is himself accused this evening of playing with the danger of the extreme right to awaken the Republican front.
Quickly on the sidelines
The BRP band has never seemed so powerful as on June 9. This decision to dissolve was kept secret until the last moment by a small group of around ten people. Even the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, discovered it at the last moment. Bruno Roger-Petit has the luxury of implying that the dissolution was his choice. Over the hours, he rehearses the story of a decision that owes a lot to his small team. Behind the scenes, there is my friend Clément Léonarduzzi. ” I am far “, Emmanuel Macron’s former special advisor repeats to anyone who will listen.
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