Ten million viewers on Sunday November 1 to listen to Jean Castex at the "20 Heures" of TF 1. A stratospheric audience for the Prime Minister, and the feeling of having appeased - at least in part - the anger of small traders and certain mayors , by announcing the closure of non-essential departments in supermarkets.
Except that the controversy is not over.
And it was very laborious to get there, after several days of vagueness from the executive since the announcement of the reconfinement Wednesday evening by Emmanuel Macron.
In the secrecy of a telephone exchange on Sunday afternoon between the tenant of the Elysee Palace and that of Matignon, the instructions, a few hours before the meeting of the television news, were also clear: remind the French of the firmness of the executive on the health measures taken in the face of the worsening Covid-19 epidemic, but clear the situation by making a gesture to show that the government remains open to discussion.
This weekend, the head of state remained hanging on his phone, receiving alerts from some furious mayors and monitoring the growing discontent.
VIDEO. Reconfinement: "We will not go back on the measures announced", warns Jean Castex
A shame for the one who has hammered in recent weeks his desire to rely on local elected officials to overcome the crisis.
“A decision, before it is taken, must be shared.
However, the mayors were not put in the loop this time, “regrets the president of Génération terrain Karl Olive, elected in Poissy (Yvelines).
"It's a shame, because we could have anticipated the fact that the new containment measures, even if they are legitimate on the merits, were not going to pass easily in the opinion", continues this mayor yet close to Macron.
"Castex wanted to show that it is he who has the hand"
All weekend, Jean Castex and Bruno Le Maire therefore tried to correct the situation to get out of this controversy.
By increasing the number of videoconferences with professional federations, associations of mayors and owners of supermarkets.
But with a serious hiccup of communication between the two all the same: namely the cancellation by Bruno Le Maire of his participation in the “20 Hours” of France 2 on Saturday… on the express order of Matignon.
"Castex wanted to show that it is he who has control of the announcements and to continue to stage the consultations during Sunday," says a pillar of the executive.
Result, the next morning, the Prime Minister announces that he will do the same evening the news of TF 1. But, invited at the mid-day of BFMTV, the Mayor grate him politeness anyway by revealing the closure to come "of the shelves of non-essential products ”in supermarkets.
On Saturday, the Minister of the Economy was particularly struck by several telephone exchanges.
With small traders in his district of Evreux (Eure), first of all, very worried about their future.
But also with the CEO of Carrefour Alexandre Bompard, then Michel-Edouard Leclerc, of the eponymous group.
Two bosses, two approaches: Bompard staunchly defending the maintenance of the opening of non-essential departments, Leclerc - which Le Maire has always considered in a small committee that he "smelled of the country" - fearing, on the contrary, riots of small traders in its hypermarkets.
Like a false air of crisis of the yellow vests too, which the government wants to avoid at all costs.
"It just has nothing to do", challenge the Elysée and Bercy in chorus.
"I nevertheless feel a cold anger which begins to rise," worries Karl Olive.
"It would be a mistake not to see it, and even to anticipate it ...", engages an influential minister.
