A dialogue with all the political formations for “transpartisan” texts, even referendums, proposals in the field of education… Emmanuel Macron sketched on Wednesday August 23, in a long interview granted to the magazine Le Point, the outlines of his political return, specifying the framework of its “major political initiative”, promised at the beginning of the summer and supposed to unblock a complex situation in Parliament.
Emmanuel Macron confirms that he will bring together the “main political leaders of our country” in La Celle-Saint-Cloud “from next week”. The Head of State justifies this meeting in the Yvelines, to which are invited “the political forces represented by our assemblies”, by the “unprecedented moment” crossed by the country, confronted with “major geopolitical, climatic, technological upheavals” and threatened by “risks of division”.
“This work will result in immediate decisions, bills and legislative proposals, but also referendum projects”, anticipates the President of the Republic. In six years of presidency, Emmanuel Macron has several times raised the possibility of referendums, without having resorted to them so far.
Regarding the areas he intends to address, Emmanuel Macron opens the door to any text likely to “strengthen the independence of our country and [to] rebuild our nation and everything that holds it: family, school, service national universal, the transmission of our culture, our language, the regulation of screens. But also our organization and our institutions in all territories. »
Emmanuel Macron wants students “who need it” to be able to return to school “as of August 20” to “catch up”. The Head of State had asked his government at the end of June to work on an overhaul of summer holidays and school time over the year, without setting a timetable at this stage, after a visit to Marseille during which he had expressed its desire to “reopen the debate” on this subject.
Emmanuel Macron also believes that the baccalaureate exams, which started for the first time in 2023 in March, cannot be held “so early in the year”. “The Minister [of National Education], in the coming days, will announce the adjustments that we will decide on this subject,” he adds.
Finally, the president announces that he wants to overhaul the history and civic education curricula, as well as a strengthening of “teacher training” in these two subjects.
Emmanuel Macron delivers his “analysis” of the riots that followed the death of Nahel M., killed by police fire on June 27 in Nanterre. In this violence committed by “a few thousand young people”, the Head of State sees a “desire for revenge against the police forces, the State, and all that it represented”, also describing a “relationship which does not is not settled between a part of the youth and the authority, in particular the forces of order”. Speaking of an “integration problem”, the president again uses the term “decivilization”, a “process” he had already mentioned in May. “I talked about decivilization a few months ago. That’s what we saw. We must therefore work to recivilize, ”he insists.
Regarding the treatment of the riots, “a few days at the beginning of the summer, compared to three weeks in 2005”, Emmanuel Macron prides himself on having been “intractable”. “We were relentless,” he said, reporting 4,000 arrests followed by 1,000 immediate appearances. Beyond the events of the last few months, the president, accused by the right and the far right of lacking authority, claims to have “reconstituted the royal muscle”, recalling in particular the “10,000 internal security posts” created since 2017 “I would add that there have never been so many detainees in France, while we do not say that justice is lax! »
Postponed several times, notably in the absence of a stable majority, the immigration bill is back at the start of the school year. Emmanuel Macron confirms that he will instruct the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to “discuss with all the opposition forces that are going in the same direction and [to] build the most effective project possible”. If the Head of State says he is ready to accept “enriching the text of the government”, after discussions with the opposition, he warns that the “instruments of the Constitution” could be mobilized if no majority emerges in Parliament . “We need results and therefore if such a text were blocked, nothing should be forbidden”, assumes Emmanuel Macron, questioned about a possible recourse to “49.3”.
Emmanuel Macron says he hopes “that the Ukrainian counter-offensive can bring everyone back to the negotiating table”. “A good negotiation will be what the Ukrainians want”, continues the President of the Republic. Regarding Vladimir Putin, the Head of State accuses him of having made “a deep break by choosing to no longer respect international agreements”.
“I will speak to him again when it will be useful”, takes care to add Emmanuel Macron all the same, even if his Russian counterpart “feeds the disorder of the world”, “while being a member of the UN Security Council”. “It’s a deep choice,” he snipes. On the subject of the remarks of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who estimated in an interview granted to Figaro that the future of France was linked to that of Russia, Mr. Macron retorts that it is “up to Russia to define which partner she wants to be “.
“If we take the height, France was right to engage alongside African states to fight against terrorism. (…) If we hadn’t committed ourselves, with the Serval and then Barkhane operations, there would probably be no more Mali, no more Burkina Faso, I’m not even sure there would still be Niger. », Considers the President of the Republic.
The Head of State calls once again for the “restoration of constitutional order” in Niger and the release of President Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown on July 26 by the military. “This coup is a blow against democracy in Niger, against the people of Niger and against the fight against terrorism”, he denounced.
