Funny place for a meeting… Emmanuel Macron chose the education house of the Legion of Honor in Saint-Denis, not far from the Basilica where the kings of France are buried, to invite all the party presidents this Wednesday at 3 p.m. A place designed by Napoleon for a Republican meeting! It is also a site which has a “symbolic value”, it is underlined at the Élysée, recalling that it is in this school, created in 1805, that the daughters of parents rewarded by the Nation study. An example of “meritocracy”, therefore, in a city affected by the riots at the end of June.
This first part of the “Rencontres de Saint-Denis” – this is the official name of the “large-scale political initiative” announced at the height of the summer – should make it possible to initiate discussions on a certain number of subjects ( international situation, effectiveness of public action, decentralization, cohesion of the Nation, in particular) and to reach compromises. “This work will result in immediate decisions, bills and bills, but also referendum projects,” assured the Head of State in the major interview he gave to Le Point last week. The big novelty being the concept of “preferendum”, defended by several ministers and mentioned Monday by the government spokesman, Olivier Véran.
Bearing in mind the famous adage that, in a referendum, the question asked is answered less than the person who asks it, the president wants to include several subjects in a single referendum. “The idea is to be able to sound out public opinion to find points of agreement and move forward. This should allow us to get out of the classic, divisive pattern of using a referendum to express anger, ”explains an executive adviser. Emmanuel Macron received, this Tuesday at 10 a.m., Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and eleven ministers to discuss this famous “preferendum” and prepare for his intervention. In the evening, according to information from Le Parisien, confirmed by Le Point, he dined with the presidents of the majority parties.
Before inviting all the political forces, the tenant of the Elysee Palace tested the waters. Last Tuesday, he personally called Republican President Eric Ciotti — special treatment he has given no other party leader. Some, like Olivier Faure, are also sorry. “This barnum is especially intended for Eric Ciotti, because he is the only one who has been called. We are extras in this affair “, regretted the first secretary of the PS at the party’s summer universities in Blois.
“They talked a lot about the war in Ukraine and the UNS, but when it came to immigration, Ciotti felt that Macron was kicking,” says President LR’s entourage. This will precisely focus on immigration – he wants the president to submit his proposal for reform of the Constitution to a referendum – authority and purchasing power. On BFMTV on Tuesday, he recalled his mantras: “more authority so that there is order in the street”, “more freedom” and “less taxes”. And to evoke “the compulsory uniform at school” to try to put back on the agenda a measure defended by Brigitte Macron.
But, like the other opposition parties, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes does not expect much from this rout. “Eric is going because he’s non-partisan and respects our institutions. But, if the president does not understand that he must change his line on immigration, it will be just talking, ”judges a relative. The president of the LR group in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, is not more optimistic. “As often with Emmanuel Macron, the mountain gives birth to a mouse: the major initiative has turned into a simple discussion meeting, which aligns so many subjects that it is doomed to failure”, lamented- it in our columns last week.
Jordan Bardella is also calling for a “referendum on immigration policy” to be held on the day of the European elections, June 9, 2024. national believes that “there can be no national and republican surge without an awareness of the dangers of an immigration of people and without a complete change of this policy, towards more firmness, requirement and control”. He warned in Le Point that the RN would not be “the crutch of a president looking for a second wind”.
To protect the purchasing power of the French “taken by the throat” by inflation, the MEP proposes three gestures: “the reduction of energy bills and fuel prices, the tax exemption of salary increases of up to 10% and the abolition of the CVAE for companies”. Finally, on the school, Bardella asks “the guarantee of an overhaul of school programs emphasizing a high mastery of fundamental learning, the French language, science and the history of the Nation”.
The representatives of Nupes, who responded by means of a joint press release to the invitation of the President of the Republic, refuse for their part to participate in the working dinner scheduled after the round tables. “We are now used to your communication operations without a future and without effects”, sting Manuel Bompard, Olivier Faure, Fabien Roussel and Marine Tondelier. Unsurprisingly, they believe that the “only referendum project that French women and men are waiting for” would be a referendum on pension reform. And, on the other subjects, since they tackle these “Rencontres de Saint-Denis” together, the line of LFI should prevail, mortgaging the chances of reaching agreements…
