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Emmanuel Macron announced new corona restrictions on French television on Wednesday evening
Photo: JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP
"Macron is preparing an electric shock," wrote the French media before the president's televised address.
Emmanuel Macron once again spoke a word of power in the corona crisis.
Since July 14th, he had only sent Prime Minister Jean Castex or Health Minister Olivier Véran.
But the corona infections are increasing in France, experts see the country in the middle of the second wave.
That is why Macron had to show its presence and reassure the French with clear announcements.
Macron went even tougher than the French had expected and shocked them.
He announced a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in numerous cities particularly hard hit by the virus, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Aix-en-Provence.
You can no longer go to the cinema or theater in the evening, which is a big problem for the culture industry.
The curfew is to be introduced on Saturday and will last for at least four weeks.
That is not a complete lockdown, but an extreme slowdown.
Dramatic situation in Paris
The government’s alarming news has not stopped for days.
In Paris the situation was "dramatic," it said.
They prepared the field for the President.
Above all, the television interview should show that he still holds the reins in his hands.
It should be a staging of determination to be clear about the action for the next few weeks and months.
And clarity actually made it.
It only made the president seem rather helpless.
Previously, there was speculation about a curfew at 10 or 11 p.m.
The president defended himself: "We have not lost control, we are not in a panic. But the hospitals are under pressure. Today the virus is all over France. We have no reserves in the hospitals. Therefore we have to take action. We are in the second wave. "
Germany is also taking restrictive measures, he said.
France must react.
"We have more than 20,000 new cases every day. We have to stop the virus from spreading. We have to save our health system."
The president remained pale
In view of the fact that there is a high probability that he will run as a presidential candidate again in 2022, the conversation was also measured by whether he would succeed in being a great statesman.
Although the decisions were tough, the president appeared rather pale.
It was more of an educational speech to continue to warn the French to be cautious, an appeal to individual responsibility by explaining the next imminent stage if the French are not careful.
Macron did not dramatize so as not to frustrate the French too much.
In response, they could have massively rejected the measures.
So his tone was rather calm and not very dynamic.
Shortly before the address, a commission of inquiry criticized the poor crisis management in the corona crisis and spoke of "very clear errors in foresight, preparation and management".
There was a lack of masks, tests and coordination between those responsible.
Macron was therefore less on the offensive;
rather, he defended the problems.
Curfew should start where laws don't apply
Above all, the President wants to prevent a new lockdown, throughout France and also locally, so as not to bring economic and social life to a standstill.
The curfew, on the other hand, should begin where laws do not apply.
They are intended to restrict the gatherings of younger people in public and private spaces in particular.
Announcing the curfew was the only option for Macron.
But not exactly the demonstration of a great statesman with visions.
The appeals to companies that were called to work from home for two or three days also sound vague.
Since the lockdown, more and more companies in France have moved back to being in the office for the convenience of bosses.
At the expense of the distance in congested local traffic.
It's a disaster for the restaurant owners.
More and more companies are calling for help from the state, most recently the chauffeurs and nightclub owners.
Therefore, new economic measures should take effect, including the extension of short-time working.
In the course of the interview, Macron's announcements seemed more and more like the last solution.
"If we don't want to decide even tougher measures in three weeks, you have to stick to them" - a vision sounds different.
All neighbors in Europe took action, said Macron: "We do not decide on any extraordinary restrictions."
His appearance almost seemed like a compulsory exercise in a crisis.
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