To understand the crisis that has torn France apart since early February, one has to look to the person of Emmanuel Macron, who is standing in the way of the pension reform he has decreed.
On the left, the president is described as “disgraceful”, living “outside of all truth”, on the right as “dangerous”, “irresponsible” and his reform as “a big mess”. Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne felt the need to contradict her leader, calling for “not to rush things” and for a “recovery period”, while deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a Gaullist and supporter of order, noted the sacking. President.
Yet Macron is not giving up anything. In a solemn speech Monday evening, he devoted just three minutes to his pension reform and the crisis it sparked and lasted three months. He emphasized his willingness to carry out new reforms, especially in relation to work, which helped predict other conflicts.
As used to strikes and demonstrations, France has a long tradition of presidents who distinguished themselves by their arrogance. Think Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, nicknamed the “King of VGE” by François Mitterrand. Minister, Mitterrand replied with a smile: “But you are absolutely right, Prime Minister!”), and to Nicolas Sarkozy, who during a dinner with members of parliament in 2009, made the feat of insulting three heads of state: Barack Obama (he). considered too “weak”), Angela Merkel (who took too long to “understand”) and José Luis Sabatero (“not very smart”)1.
But Emmanuel Macron seems to be in a separate category. For those of us accustomed to Justin Trudeau’s apology and his sad tone, the contrast is stark.
Since entering politics, Macron has proliferated infamous formulas.
He described those who opposed his reform plans as “lazy”, “cynics” and “cows who resist change”. To a young man who complained that he had run out of money, the president, dressed in a 1600 euro suit, replied: “The best way to buy a suit is to work”. To an unemployed man who said he couldn’t find a job, he replied, “I found you across the street.”2.
Macron’s recent interventions on the international stage have not been pleasant. During a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo in March, he allowed himself to lecture President Tshisekedi in a condescending and paternalistic tone reminiscent of the colonial era.3A mixture Tintin in the Congo and D’OSS 117 In the words of an MP. At the end of his meeting with Xi Jinping last week, Macron managed to upset all his allies by suggesting a third way between East and West, between China and the US.4. It’s not de Gaulle who likes it.
But who is Emmanuel Macron?
Nicknamed the “Mozard of Finance” for his exploits as a banker at Rothschild (notably he orchestrated the €9 billion transaction between Nestlé and Pfizer), Macron is a proponent of deregulation and market liberalization. As he said in 2017 in English – in front of an audience of French business people – he aims to make France a “start-up country”: “I want France to be a start-up country. I mean a nation that works with start-ups, but also thinks and moves like a start-up. Country. At the old station where he delivered his speech, he added: “A station is a place where you meet successful and nothing people. »
Obviously, this new pension reform, the seventh in 30 years and Macron’s second, carried out against a background of inflation, has not passed in style and substance.
Raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 is the latest in a series of deregulation measures over the years, raising the contribution period for full retirement to 43 years and revising the annual calculation based on 25. Better years of pay, the elimination of exemptions for hard work, the raising of the full-rate age to 67, changes that particularly affect workers (only 70% of them are alive at age 64, compared to 96% of managers).5. Also, the French of the working classes – perhaps considered among these “people with nothing” in the eyes of President Macron – are overwhelmingly turning to Marine Le Pen, who could become president by 55%-45% in an election. Today6.
Since Macron cannot run for a third term, such results are pure speculation. But they say something about the French’s perception of this president, who is increasingly alien to his own people, a kind of European-style Wolf of Wall Street who may soon – like François Hollande before him – become a “lame duck”. “.
3. Regarding the war that is tearing the country apart, torn between foreign and local mining interests, Macron said the following words: “Since 1994, it’s not France’s fault, sorry. Your country’s sovereignty has not been restored, the military, the defense, or the administration of your country. It is also a reality. The culprits in this matter should not be looked for outside. To which President Félix Tshisekedi responded: “You see, this is what has to change in our relations with the West, especially France and Europe in general. The way you see things happening in Africa. »
