Emmanuel Macron is the guest this Sunday of the newspapers of 20H of TF1 and France 2. The opportunity for the President of the Republic to return to the visits of Charles III and Pope Francis in France this week, but he will also be expected on the challenges of the new school year, from inflation to immigration.
An unpleasant political surprise fell a few hours before the television interview: the only minister running in the senatorial elections, Secretary of State Sonia Backès was defeated Sunday in New Caledonia. The Head of State will have to react to this disappointing result.
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Live from the Elysee, he will speak "after a historic week where the France received the King of the United Kingdom and the Pope in the middle of the Rugby World Cup," said the presidency. In his entourage, several voices encouraged him to speak in case of success of this "triple event in mondovision". "It should still be credited to his credit," slips an executive of the presidential camp. And, by the way, "answer to all the Cassandras that we are ready for the Olympic Games" next summer.
Any details on the referendum?
The exercise is a double-edged sword: in Marseille, the pontiff was tough on the political class on the fate of migrants who die trying to cross the Mediterranean. The Elysee assured that the France had "nothing to be ashamed of" in terms of "welcome and integration", but President Macron, who attended the papal mass at the Stade Vélodrome, was dismissed by the left to his own record.
He "behaves in a particularly hypocritical way because it is he who implements these policies" on immigration, launched the "rebellious" Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Above all, the executive is struggling to find a parliamentary majority on its immigration law.
The tenant of the Élysée could perhaps specify his intentions on a possible opening of the field of the referendum, including to social issues such as immigration, discussed with the party leaders he met at the end of August in Saint-Denis. This unprecedented conclave, he also wishes to repeat, possibly at the end of October or beginning of November.
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The head of the Catholic Church also issued a new warning to the government as it prepares to unveil a bill that could go so far as to authorize "active assistance in dying". "We don't play with life!" he said. Emmanuel Macron explained the "calendar" of the text, expected "in the coming weeks", but not the content, assured an adviser.
Ecology, budget and international diplomacy
This intervention, in front of journalists Anne-Claire Coudray and Laurent Delahousse, also takes place "on the eve of the presentation of ecological planning," noted the presidential entourage. This meeting on Monday, during which Emmanuel Macron will deliver a speech at the end of a ministerial meeting at the Élysée, had seemed to several observers a little dull while it is theoretically a question of embarking the French in the great project of the fight against global warming. A priority on which, in the opinion of Macronia, the head of state has so far failed to sketch a great mobilizing narrative. The 20H may be an opportunity to better articulate his vision.
Three days before the presentation of the budget for 2024 in the Council of Ministers, the president will also be expected at the turning point on the issue of inflation and purchasing power, very sensitive in this fall. The oppositions have gone on the offensive on this key concern of the French, blaming the executive for not protecting them sufficiently - especially since the idea of authorizing the sale of fuel at a loss looks for the moment like a government failure.
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Finally, while Emmanuel Macron wants to invoke the week's visits to highlight the international status of the France, the diplomatic news does not bring him good news. The France has yet to find a way out of the stalemate caused by the July coup d'état in Niger, which has so far refused to withdraw its troops and ambassador declared persona non grata by the military regime.
And the head of state, who has tried in the past to mediate the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, was taken aback like the entire international community by the offensive of Azerbaijan, which won a lightning victory in this secessionist region mainly populated by Armenians.
