Jean Castex: "I take full face, but I assume"

Bad weather does not spare Matignon and his tenant.

Resumption of the epidemic, economic and social crisis, upheavals in the majority, Jean Castex sees clouds piling up above him after a summer which had rather spared him.

And his situation could be complicated if he announces as of this Sunday evening new measures of health restrictions for Paris and several large cities.

Finished the state of grace, hello Matignon hell?

In a small committee, the Prime Minister admits it bluntly: “It's true that I have a lot of pissing off!

»He balances, before noting that« it is inherent »to his function.

"But I'm here ... and maneuvering", chanted the successor of Edouard Philippe.

This Saturday, he was also on the ground to manage another front: that of bad weather in the Alpes-Maritimes, where he went to the bedside of the inhabitants heavily affected.

"He doesn't embody much"

But within the majority, the latest opinion surveys have confirmed the doubt that has been gaining ground in recent weeks: a drop of nine points in the latest Ifop barometer for Paris Match, with now 46% of French people who approve of its action , a confidence rating in free fall also in that of the Kantar Institute for the Figaro Magazine, now at 28% (-5%).

"The polls, he does not look at them, so he does not comment on them," quickly evacuates those around him.

Internally, the Castex style is nevertheless widely commented.

“He doesn't embody much.

It has nothing personal, but it's just that I can not know where it is on many subjects, “laments a minister.

A deputy is more scathing: “When he comes to a group meeting, it's interminable.

He does not manage to get us on board in his story ", he shouts, reproaching his teaching tone" and his permanent references to social Gaullism "which for the younger generations does not speak to anyone".

Others recall the last two hiccups remained in the memories: the StopCovid application that he admitted not having downloaded, during his participation on September 24 in the program "You have the floor".

And especially the sudden announcement, at the end of last week, of partial or total closures of bars and restaurants in several large cities, including Marseille.

On this last point, even today, Castex assumes: “In Marseille, the alert threshold had been crossed for several days.

I told myself at that time that if we did not act harder, public opinion would not have bitten.

We had to strike a blow, for the French to open their hatches, ”he said privately.

Even if it means suffering a flood of criticism.

“I issue measures.

Sometimes it's not fun, but it's my duty.

And even if I am in full force at the moment, it does not matter.

I assume.

"

VIDEO.

Jean Castex: "We call for a rally" on the Covid-19

From the Elysee Palace, Emmanuel Macron observes the actions of his Prime Minister with, sometimes, a little caution.

"The shot of the StopCovid app, he was shocked," said a close friend of the head of state.

At the Palais, we still remember that Jean Castex "has all the confidence of the president, that he has just arrived, and that time must be allowed".

"If nothing improves between now and the regional, everything is possible"

Others, however, evoke his difficulty in succeeding Edouard Philippe.

“Whatever he says, he is systematically reverted to his predecessor, who is very popular to him at the moment.

It's unfair, but that's how it is, ”we explain.

When others raise another problem for Castex: “He has strong characters to manage in his team.

The Bruno Le Maire of 2020 is not that of 2017. And when you have Bachelot in Culture, it does not require the same energy as when it was Riester, ”points out a Macronie executive, also recalling an episode significant: “When Darmanin and Dupond-Moretti got down on the wild, Castex wanted to whistle the end of recess.

But that didn't stop them each from putting in a blade afterwards… ”

Political Newsletter

Every day, political news seen by Le Parisien

I'm registering

Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.

Learn more

In Matignon, we prefer to be reassured, by raising, for example, the State-Region agreement signed last Monday as part of the recovery plan.

"An unpublished text, he succeeded in bringing the regional presidents back to the table, while the dialogue was broken off before his arrival", we insist.

But it will take more to overcome the coming months, with the crisis that will last and regional elections that are expected to be very complicated for the majority.

“If nothing improves by then, anything is possible.

Including his departure ”, asserts, sharply, a regular interlocutor of Emmanuel Macron.

Jean Castex has therefore not finished with the problems.

And he knows it.