The former Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, is heard on Wednesday October 21 by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry, which seeks to draw the first conclusions from the management of the health crisis.
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The Prime Minister must respond to accusations of mismanagement of the epidemic, and in particular clarify the questions relating to the management of masks, the maintenance of municipal elections, or even deconfinement.
As part of the judicial investigation opened in July, the home of Édouard Philippe was searched on October 15.
Nine complaints for "
count of abstaining from fighting a disaster
", an offense punishable by the Penal Code were retained.
"Too early" to answer
From the outset, in his introductory remarks, Édouard Philippe stressed that this investigation was done "
on the spot
", but was "
necessary
".
Throughout his hearing, he kept reminding people that it was "
too early
" to answer certain questions from parliamentarians.
"
It's a terribly difficult exercise,
" he said.
If we did not understand the root causes which justify the difficult and sometimes slow decisions to be taken, we would miss the analytical spirit which must be that of the Assembly
”.
Public action not well enough explained
For the Prime Minister, one of the causes of the aggravation of the crisis is the inability of the government to justify and have its decisions accepted.
“
To enlighten and explain public decisions, how do we get there to be a form of expertise that is heard, to explain public action?
asked Édouard Philippe in front of parliamentarians.
Our current system has not sufficiently allowed it
”.
Édouard Philippe defended his action.
"
There are things that have worked very well
," he repeated several times.
The sense of the profession of those who had to react, the hospital caregivers, but that does not stop only with them.
There was a mobilization that must be welcomed
”.
In addition, the former prime minister underlined the difficulty inherent in decision-making.
“
We were walking on a ridge path
,” he said.
To confine too long is to risk the collapse of the country's economy.
Deconfining too quickly is to restart the epidemic
. ”