Michel Goya is colonel (ER) of the naval troops, doctor of history and former holder of the chair of military history at the War School. He recently published Adapt to conquer: How do armies evolve? (Perrin, 2019).
FIGAROVOX.- The prefect Didier Lallement apologized after declaring to the media that "those found today in the intensive care units are those who did not respect confinement". Is it a simple blunder or a serious blunder?
Michel GOYA.- It is especially particularly awkward. Besides that we do not see very well how it comes under the prerogatives of the function, we wonder what it can bring. Are we going to impose fines on those who leave intensive care? For what reason, moreover? Are we going to tell the families of those who will lose one of theirs now that it is his fault? No, of course.
An image of "tough" is hardly useful when the confrontation is between all of us and a virus which, as far as we know, does not watch television.What then could be the point of this declaration? An image of "tough" is hardly useful when the confrontation is between all of us and a virus which, as far as we know, does not watch television.
The attitude of the Paris prefect of police seems to settle with the appeasement that the Prime Minister wants on the contrary ...
There is obviously a contradiction. But a soothing discourse, on the theme "all is well", "we have everything planned" by Agnes Buzyn while she knows by saying that it is false is also devastating, just like the "there is no flaws ”after each terrorist attack from 2012 to 2015 when there clearly had been.
The basic principle of democracy is to consider citizens as honest, adult and responsible individuals, and not grown-up children who must be told stories so as not to frighten them or who must be suspected of always wanting to be silly. . The least thing is that the representatives elected by the citizens show the same qualities as the latter.
What leadership does the country need in a crisis situation? How to reconcile the need for authority and the urgency to create unity?
It is a subtle blend of mobilization and security. We mobilize because the issue is difficult, it will take an effort and accept the sacrifices. It is the "blood and tears" of Churchillian discourse in 1940, a model of its kind, or the call to war rhetoric, a little improper but which actually provokes a reflex of narrowing ranks. In this case, it is rather on the contrary to close the ranks which is more stressful but also requires an even more unanimous effort to function. We must convince everyone, playing on emotion ("It's war") but also on pedagogy, explaining why we do this. But at the same time, we must reassure by showing that these efforts will indeed make it possible to come out of this crisis for sure. Again, we can play on emotion, promising a better future, or on clear explanations.
Is public speaking too scattered?
It is not abnormal that in a crisis situation and what is more, a rather unprecedented crisis, there are communication errors, and even errors in short. Here again, the minimum is to consider that adult citizens can understand it. However, hearing everyone repeat the same elements of language decided in the Council of Ministers or, worse, by a communications team does not deceive anyone. There will be no divergent voices since we only hear one voice, which will suddenly sound false.
The important thing is to remain benevolent and honesty while respecting the intelligence of the French.More intelligent is the distribution of roles between educational experts as prosecutor Molins may have been at the time of the attacks or as is the Director General of Health, Jérôme Salomon, or even the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and the "mobilizers", the President of the Republic in the first place, or even a mixture of two like the Prime Minister. The important thing is to remain benevolent and honesty while respecting the intelligence of the French.
