Emmanuel Macron will he finally speak to defend the pension reform, still contested? "Yes, I think I will do it before the municipal elections," he confirmed on Wednesday on the sidelines of his wishes to the press. Way of emphasizing that the March election, however crucial for the rest of its five-year term, cannot disrupt government action. "For me, the municipal calendar is neutral on pensions," he said, going as far as ensuring that "rather pushed the government so that we have a first reading of the text before" ... so as not to fuel the idea of an entourage.
Even if it is doubtless to expect "postcards", the Head of State certifies that he does not intend to engage in the municipal campaign. As if he were anticipating a failure, he observes that it would be "wrong" to consider being able "overnight, to win the municipal elections as one wins the legislative elections". And to untie his fate from the result of his party, by countering in advance any idea of a sanction vote: "I will not consider that people vote for such or such candidate because they support or not the president. I will not automatically draw national consequences from it. Or how to get away from the pressure of the ballot box by dismissing the prospect of a cabinet reshuffle.
Putting the environmental issue back on the scene
Obviously determined to step over a reform born in pain and a delicate ballot, Emmanuel Macron therefore intends to head for the future. This is also the meaning of the government seminar held on Wednesday. "Slowing down is out of the question," warned, in unison, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, detailing at its end the government program for the next six months.
The executive intends to quickly put the environmental issue back on the forefront, especially during the municipal elections. On the menu: a new Ecological Defense Council in mid-February, the closure of the first reactor at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant on the 22nd, followed in April by the presentation of the first five-year strategy for the release of plastic, then by the World Congress on nature in June in Marseille. Also coming is the long-awaited dependency bill promised by Édouard Philippe by the summer.
Plan to fight radical Islam presented "by March"
In an Prévert-style inventory, the Matignon tenant also mentions the white paper on security expected in the coming weeks, or the plan to fight radical Islam and communitarianism presented "by March". Plan whose president intends to kick off with a speech "during the quarter", before it is "declined by the government".
"This is a subject that must be tackled, because radical Islam and communitarianism are subjects that fuel separatism in the Republic, recommends Macron, after his wishes to the press. But it must be done without stigmatization and also with a positive aspect, because in the same way that we must fight against separatism in the Republic, we must fight against all the forms of exclusion that the Republic concedes and all the discrimination on which she turns a blind eye. "
The message is clear, while a part of France remains blocked, the executive power wants to demonstrate that it is advancing, on all fronts. A ministerial adviser says: “We got bogged down on pensions. It is more than ever time to get out and make people forget this bad sequence. A challenge.
