Judging by the reactions, the words of Emmanuel Macron, yesterday, during a televised interview, did not help to put out the fire but rather fueled the fire. The French president defended his pension reform, saying he would not give in to incessant protests.
Little given to self-criticism, the head of state only reproached himself: “Not having managed to convince about the need for reform.” “I do not live on regrets, I live on will, tenacity, commitment, because I love our country and our compatriots,” he said, with a certain solemnity, before TF1 and France 2 journalists in the winter garden of the Élysée.
The president’s tone outraged the unions and the opposition, who used very harsh descriptions. Laurent Berger, secretary general of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), accused Macron of “denial and lies”. Philippe Martínez, at the head of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), reproached him for “contempt”. The same word was used by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La Francia Insumisa (LFI, radical left). Marine Le Pen lamented “the president’s uselessly hurtful and dangerous provocations.”
Even the leader of Los Republicanos (LR, traditional right), Éric Ciotti, who voted against the motion of no confidence last Monday, estimated that “the solutions proposed by the President of the Republic are not up to the political and economic crisis that we live”. Aurélien Pradié, also a leader of LR, but who did vote for the motion to overthrow the government, maintained that Macron “does not understand the immense fractures of the nation, he does not understand that his self-satisfaction is one more provocation.”
To reaffirm the pre-eminence of representative democracy and condemn violent actions against the reform, Macron certainly did not like the fact that Macron evoked the seizure of the Capitol by supporters of Trump or the Brazilian Parliament by the supporters of Bolsonaro. Likewise, he used the term “rogues”, with a very negative charge.
The head of the Élysée stressed that the two-year delay in the retirement age is “a very difficult reform that does not give me any pleasure”, but it is “a necessity for the country”. “We have no right to immobility,” he continued. “For decades we have accustomed the country to spending and not producing, or to producing less and less,” he added.
The president revalidated his confidence in the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, although without special enthusiasm or emphasis. He entrusted Borne with the task of “expanding the majority”, an objective that seems difficult and has already clearly shown its limits on the issue of pensions.
To try to ingratiate himself with the unions, Macron announced, without giving details, that the Government would decide an “extraordinary contribution” for large companies that obtain “extraordinary benefits.” That money should go to the employees. He, too, was in favor of improving conditions for older workers, a promise as well-intentioned as it is vague in a context of raging social conflict.
