Did France react too late to the coronavirus epidemic? No, defends Edouard Philippe in a television intervention on the set of France 2 this Tuesday evening. "All these controversies, I accept them, I know them, and I assume absolutely everything as head of government," he thundered.
The Prime Minister, who came to explain the containment measures announced Monday by Emmanuel Macron and the rest of the government, defended the decisions taken by the government "since January".
In an article in Le Monde, former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn said that she had thought, from the start of the municipal campaign, that it was "a masquerade". "We should have stopped everything," she said. She also said that she had warned the Prime Minister "as early as January 30 that the elections could probably not be held".
A reproach brushed aside by Edouard Philippe. “She told us that if we were on the peak during the municipal elections, it would be complicated. But many doctors did not think so, "he defended himself on the set of the television news from France 2.
"We cannot decide alone"
The Prime Minister recalled that the maintenance of the first round was done in agreement with the Scientific Council and the party leaders. "They told us that by respecting security rules, elections could be done without danger," he recalls.
"We cannot decide alone, the day before an election, three days before an election, the interruption of the democratic process […] while others were going for a walk on the beach or in cities", annoyed the head of government.
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Edouard Philippe also assured that he took the epidemic seriously at his first signals at the start of the year. “As early as January, we took serious measures, repatriating the French from China and confining them. From the beginning of the appearance of the virus on the territory, we carried out strict confinements. Doctors said it was a flu, that it was exaggerating the importance. We took these alerts seriously, ”he continues.
"There is considerable work," insisted the Prime Minister. "I have no doubt that a few months ago there were people who said" you are doing too much "and others who said" not enough "", he said, saying that he should take responsibility for the decisions taken. by the government throughout the epidemic.