Under the “
Edouard, Edouard, Edouard!”
Shouted by his supporters, Édouard Philippe climbs onto the oval stage set up in the Parc Floral, in Paris.
Palms down, he immediately suggests that they calm things down. The former Prime Minister may inaugurate this Saturday, March 25 the first congress of his party, Horizons, he does not want to be accused of taking the light.
Even less when the government finds itself weakened by the use of 49.3 and faced with a series of violence recorded Thursday, on the sidelines of the mobilization against the pension reform.
Faced with the hardening of the dispute, the mayor of Le Havre even thought of postponing his event, imagined "
like a party
".
But at Horizons, "
we don't like to let go of much
", he said smiling, in front of an audience of some 3,000 activists gathered for the first time since the creation of the party, in October 2021, while Emmanuel Macron, for his part, ended up postponing the state visit of King Charles III.
Read alsoÉdouard Philippe: “After retirement, immobility is the guarantee of downgrading”
In the midst of a “
social and political crisis
”, in his words, his partisan high mass however turned into a “mobilization operation” of the presidential camp.
Applauded upon her arrival, the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, immediately presented herself as a guardian of order in the face of excesses.
“
We refuse immobility and chaos.
We will not give in to outrage, demagoguery, intimidation
, ”she insisted, before paying tribute to the 441 police and gendarmes injured Thursday among the police.
“Extremely worried society”
While a tenth day of mobilization is announced on Tuesday, Elisabeth Borne said she was "
listening to doubts and sometimes anger
", but she held the line of the executive: do not back down.
"
We had to start this reform, and we could not take any risks for the future of our pensions
", recalled the head of government for the umpteenth time.
Even if it means rejecting the boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, who asked Friday to "
pause"
the reform.
At the risk, too, of fueling skepticism in his camp, some macronists having regretted the inflexible posture of Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, on TF1 and France 2.
Wireless microphone in front of his mouth, dark glasses on his nose, Édouard Philippe in turn supported an "
essential
" reform.
But he expressed his "
regret
" for a "
calm debate
", pointing to an "
extremely worried society
".
Just as he castigated the strategy of "
obstruction
" of the Insoumis, "
remarkably executed
" in his eyes.
Support for a reform that he considers "indispensable", the former Prime Minister however pointed to an "extremely worried society".
ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
Applause in the room, where many tenors of the majority are lined up.
Half a dozen ministers answered present, as did the former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the head of Renaissance, Stéphane Séjourné, the centrist François Bayrou, the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, his predecessor Richard Ferrand… In the front row, who came with the vice-president of Horizons, Christian Estrosi, some even recognized Gaël Nofri, former adviser to Marine Le Pen in 2012, who has since become deputy mayor of Nice.
“Ungovernable” country without a coalition
During a speech of more than an hour, Édouard Philippe reiterated his warning against "immobility
"
, launched Tuesday in
Le Figaro
.
"
The goal is to govern
," he said.
“
The objective is to act on reality
”.
To try to achieve this, the former member of the Republicans (LR) renewed his call to build a “
coalition
” around the “
central bloc
”, ranging from the right to the “
social democrats
”.
Without this guarantee of "
stability
", he warns that the country could become "
perfectly ungovernable
".
Charged by Emmanuel Macron with "
widening the majority
", Élisabeth Borne guaranteed to the tribune to persist in "
finding agreements
", in the "
overtaking
" right-left.
But text by text, “
with each other
”, rather than by sealing a government agreement: “
I will not give up convincing.
I will not give up on building compromises
, ”she assured.
Read alsoRetirements: Emmanuel Macron instructs Elisabeth Borne to build a coalition
The condition of this company is the unity of the presidential camp, however warned François Bayrou, after a series of clashes between the allies of Emmanuel Macron.
“
There will only be enlargement if we are not strong, together
”, warned the leader of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), before Édouard Philippe recognized that the majority “
could work better
”.
“
If we divide
, launched Stéphane Séjourné for his part,
it is the RN which will come out of it reinforced, and it is the Nupes that we will consolidate.
»
Project yourself into post-retirement
Despite the continuation of the social conflict, this meeting between supporters of Emmanuel Macron also aimed to project themselves into post-retirement.
Anxious to "
find the path of hearts
" and avoid the "
poison
" of "
dividing extremism
", François Bayrou asked to "
reinvent the method
" to carry out the reforms, pleading for more consultation.
Read alsoPresidential 2027: Édouard Philippe, the shadow of a doubt
Édouard Philippe, for his part, took the time to list his priorities: ecology, health... But above all "
school, school, school
", he insisted, desiring greater autonomy for establishments and better teacher compensation.
Eyes turned to the international, he also called for "
reaffirming the foundations of our power
" French and European, against the Turkish and Asian giants.
A prelude to the campaign for the European elections of May 2024.
Read alsoEuropeans: the majority wants to split on immigration
The Norman with the white beard, who is preparing the presidential election of 2027, however made it clear to his supporters that his company was worth beyond the intermediate polls.
And that he did not want his first congress to be limited to a simple meeting of majority partners.
Before intoning
La Marseillaise
, he took care to conclude his intervention with a sentence in the first person: “
I need you
”.