It was to be the quick fix for deconfinement. But, as Liberation noted , the more the weeks pass, the more the “StopCovid” project takes on the appearance of a politically flammable sea snake. During the presentation of his post-May 11 strategy on Tuesday, Édouard Philippe announced that the vote on the Covid-19 patient tracking application, developed by the government, was once again postponed. Back on two weeks of confusion, hesitation and dissension, in the opposition as in the majority.
Read also: Deconfinement plan: what to remember from the announcements of Edouard Philippe about after May 11
● From April 8 to 13: the project is announced, the controversy begins
On April 8, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, and the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O, give an interview to Le Monde to announce the development of an application for smartphones. Intended to " limit the spread of the virus by identifying chains of transmission ", this should make it possible to " retrace the history of social relations " of patients affected by Covid-19, as is done in South Korea or Singapore. At the time, the two members of the government assured that its use would only be on a " voluntary " basis. They do not yet give a precise date of implementation, but they already communicate on a name: "StopCovid". " I can't tell you whether it will take three or six weeks to develop it. (...) We will only decide later on whether or not to deploy such an application, ”warns Cédric O.
Very quickly, the question of "tracking" became central to the public debate as it agitated the opposition and shook the majority. On April 13, Emmanuel Macron took advantage of his fourth speech to return to the controversy. " I hope that our assemblies can debate it and that the competent authorities can enlighten us ," announces the President of the Republic. Parliamentarians will therefore be able to discuss this project. However, the hypothesis of a vote is not yet envisaged at this time.
Read also: General mobilization to develop the StopCovid application
● From April 15 to 20: towards a debate without a vote, the majority breaks
On April 15, Europe 1 revealed that a date for debate had been chosen by the executive. It will be in the National Assembly, first, on April 28, then in the Senate, the next day, in application of article 50-1 of the Constitution. Although parliamentarians are invited to specifically debate the issue of "tracking", no ballot is planned after these discussions.
According to Le Canard enchaîné , the government would have decided not to submit this project to the vote so as not to publicly spread the divisions of La République en Marche. " The goal was not to break the majority, " reportedly said Cédric O before the "Youth with Macron" movement. And for good reason: as Le Figaro had reported then , even the number 1 and number 2 of the presidential party, Stanislas Guérini and Pierre Person, did not agree between them.
On the one hand, the boss of the movement said that he was "going and open" on the subject, so that "we give ourselves all the tools to be able to defeat the virus, including the tools of traceability in a framed and limited way. in time". And on the other side, his right arm flatly threatened to quit the movement. “This kind of application is a red line that can jeopardize my belonging to the majority. For leaders at the center of the political spectrum to open this breach when it can lead our societies to become accustomed to illiberal regimes, contravenes what we are, ” he thundered at an executive office .
Read also: StopCovid: the CNIL says yes under conditions to the tracking application
In the days that followed, part of the majority swelled the ranks of the opposition and demanded a vote. On April 21, 42 deputies - including a good half from LREM - tabled a motion for a resolution in the National Assembly so that the debate on "tracking" was followed by a vote. The day before, the boss of the macronist deputies, Gilles Le Gendre, had however seen fit to affirm that " the debate is essential, but (that) the vote would bring nothing more " . " The government has decided that there will be no vote, " he said firmly.
● From April 21 to 27: the vote on "tracking" is integrated into the vote on deconfinement
The government finally gave in. On April 21, during the conference of group presidents at the National Assembly, the Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament, Marc Fesneau, announced that the debate scheduled for April 28 at the Palais Bourbon would be followed by a vote. It is then a specific parliamentary procedure, distinct from the rest of the deconfinement plan, which must be presented by Édouard Philippe and validated by the deputies the same day.
Also read: "Screenshot" # 8 - StopCovid, the Franco-French maze
After a slight lull linked to this announcement, the controversy resumed again on April 25. The Prime Minister indicated that day that the debate on "tracking" will ultimately be integrated into the more general discussion on the deconfinement plan. It is therefore decided that the deputies will only vote once on April 28, and no longer two. Nouvelle bronca oppositions, which demand two separate ballots and a deadline to vote the deconfinement measures. Despite their requests, they did not succeed: on April 27, Richard Ferrand warned at a conference of presidents that the vote would be neither split nor moved.
● April 28: the executive decides at the last minute to postpone the debate and the vote indefinitely
Yet another turnaround on April 28. During his presentation of the deconfinement plan, Édouard Philippe announced to the National Assembly that the debate and the vote on digital tracing were finally postponed sine die . " I confirm my commitment: when the application, under development will work - and before its implementation - we will organize a specific debate, followed by a specific vote ", he promises to the tribune.
In this period of health crisis, Emmanuel Macron considered that there was no question of unnecessarily targeting the opposition. As L'Express and Le Point revealed , the president himself telephoned a journalist on Sunday evening to indirectly criticize the recent attitude of his prime minister. Even if there was no specific question of “tracking” during this conversation, the Head of State made it clear that he was in favor of postponing the general vote, to allow parliamentarians time to reflect that 'they demanded.
● Since April 29: the vagueness of the situation opens the way to speculation
Now that the deconfinement plan has been validated, what will happen to the “StopCovid” project? Will it see the light of day? And if so, when? All these questions remain unanswered for the moment. A vagueness that agitates political and digital circles, where speculation is rife. Because even if some points of blockages remain with the Apple and Google interfaces, the coaster of the executive seems to be linked more to political fears - notably in matters of public liberties - than to technical brakes.
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