Back to the field.
The truth.
That of the “territories” from which Emmanuel Macron had been absent throughout the examination of the pension reform to be discreet.
Also to avoid crystallizing on his own person all the rejection of the text expressed by his opponents.
But, now that the legislative course is approaching its home stretch, the President of the Republic would like to move on.
Anything rather than pensions.
And if possible one of the three priorities he has set himself for the rest of his mandate: health, education and ecology.
Thursday was water.
Pending the opinion of the Constitutional Council on the reform, expected for April 14, the President of the Republic has taken up the drought file.
With a trip to Savines-le-Lac, on the dry shores of the Serre-Ponçon lake, the images of which struck people's minds last summer.
A visit prepared at the very last minute, to avoid seeing demonstrators tumbling onto the site and disrupting the speech of the Head of State.
They were, despite everything, some 200 people waiting for the President of the Republic, shouting
"Macron resignation"
and waving flags of the CGT and the Peasant Confederation.
Before his arrival, two of them were arrested by the gendarmes present en masse to secure the trip.
There are 200 demonstrators: does that mean that the Republic must stop and that we must say that we must wait a month to talk about the subjects of drought?
No.
We must continue to work with great respect and calm
Emmanuel Macron
The executive may ensure that the pension reform is now “
behind us
”, the challenge remains strong and tends to become more radical.
At the top of the state, we expected to come across demonstrators.
“
There will always be people on the sidelines of the processions to give the impression that the power is weak
, says a minister.
In the period, you have to be careful, but the president is right to return to the field.
Current affairs continue.
“Beyond the sole subject of water, this was the message that Emmanuel Macron came to deliver in Savines-le-Lac.
“
There are 200 demonstrators: does that mean that the Republic must stop and that we must say that we must wait a month to talk about the subjects of drought?
No.
We must continue to work with a lot of respect and calm
, ”said the Head of State upon his arrival to try to evacuate the subject of pensions before presenting his water plan.
But water, it was precisely a question last Saturday in Sainte-Soline, where a prohibited demonstration against the construction of “mega-basins” degenerated into violent clashes with the police.
“
You have thousands of people who just came to wage war.
It is unacceptable
”, also denounces Emmanuel Macron.
From the violence in Sainte-Soline to the violence in the demonstrations against the pension reform, there is only one step and so the head of state has plunged back into the subject he was trying to avoid.
“
I'm not going to say the same thing every four days, otherwise we stutter
, he gets annoyed, trying to extricate himself from this unique theme.
We have to move forward.
There are things that are going well in the country, you also have to know how to say it and look it in the face.
We are one of the countries that are most resistant to the shock of inflation (…), we are all rolling up our sleeves for our school, our health
.”
And for ecology too.
He comes there.
“EcoWatt of water”
After having observed the lake of Serre-Ponçon and noted the low water level, the President of the Republic moved to the desk and rolled out his sobriety plan, to prepare the country for future droughts.
But at the time of the speech, the crowd, mobilized for several hours, then tries to be heard with maximum noise: “
Macron is deaf, we are going to unclog his ears!
»
He rolls out his measurements.
Explains that he fears “
situations of great stress next summer
” in certain municipalities.
Announces the establishment of an "
EcoWatt of water
" on the model of the instrument set up to reduce electricity consumption during the winter.
Proclaims the "
progressive pricing
" of water, a mechanism tested in certain territories since 2017, according to which the price increases to deter excessive use beyond a certain volume.
Promises that the next "mega-basins" will better take into account the scarcity of water.
“
It's not about privatizing water.
Or to allow some to monopolize it
, ”he assures.
And it's not over.
“
We have decided to launch 1,000 projects in five years to recycle and reuse water” and “ultimately, we want to reuse 300 million cubic meters, or 3 Olympic swimming pools per municipality (…) or 3,500 bottles of water per French and per year
,” he says.
In total, the head of state shells 53 measures.
Then he leaves as he came.
In a helicopter.
Meanwhile in Paris, Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for a general strike for April 6, the next day of demonstration against the pension reform, and warned the unions against a “withering of the struggle
”
.
No doubt the same observation as that of the Head of State.