He hinted that it will be presented because “a country does not transform in five years”
A president who still does not want to officially don the suit of a candidate for reelection. Four months after the first round of the presidential elections in France, President Emmanuel Macron yesterday maintained the suspense around his long-awaited candidacy for the Elysee Palace, although he hinted that he will stand for reelection because “a country is not transformed into five years”.
Macron took stock of his presidency in a long interview on the TF1 and LCI television networks. He sang a mea culpa, acknowledged that he had made mistakes during his tenure, launched a declaration of love for France and the French and, for the moment, put the pension reform on hold, which was one of the priorities of his five-year period.
The president dodged, as best he could, questions about his eventual candidacy. “As I speak to you, I still have to assume a responsibility that is my own,” Macron said. “One thing I know is that, if today I were a candidate like the others, I would not be able to make decisions that I must take, now, taking into account the health situation,” he explained. And he promised the French that “he will act until the last quarter of an hour” of mandate. Macron will most likely announce his candidacy in January or February, according to some political analysts.
A Macron, more humble and sensitive than usual, acknowledged that in his five years as head of state he has made mistakes. “I have made mistakes, but I try not to repeat them,” said the president. “Humility” is the great lesson he draws from the health crisis that France and the world have faced in the last two years.
The president regretted having used, at times, phrases that have sounded arrogant and that may have “hurt” the sensibilities of some French people. “Sometimes I have been tough, impetuous,” he acknowledged. For example, he was highly criticized in France when he said in 2018 to an unemployed person: “I cross the street and find you a job.”
The president rejected the supremacist theory of the “great replacement” advocated by the far-right Éric Zemmour. This theory holds that the white and Christian population is being replaced by Muslim immigrants. “I don’t believe in the great replacement,” said Macron, acknowledging, however, that France has failed to better integrate immigrants into society.
The president reviewed some of the strong moments of his five-year period, from the crisis of “the yellow vests” to the pandemic of Covid-19, passed by the crisis of the Australian submarines, the beheading of the secondary school teacher Samuel Paty for teaching his students the Muhammad cartoons or the Benalla case, which caused the first political crisis of his five-year period after his former bodyguard was videotaped in 2018 hitting protesters in the May 1 protests.
Macron defended his economic balance and recalled that the unemployment rate is the lowest in 15 years. He was proud to have supported businesses and the French “whatever the cost” during the health crisis. And he rejected the “president of the rich” label, which his detractors have given him, in an attempt to get a little closer to the left-wing electorate.
The almost two-hour interview with the “president-candidate” at prime time irritated the opposition, which demands the same use of speaking time as the president. It is clear to his political adversaries that Macron is already on the electoral campaign, although he has not yet officially announced that he is running for re-election. For them, the interview has been electoral propaganda.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, candidate for La Francia Insoumise (the French Podemos), described Macron as an “egocentric, lukewarm and breathless mill of words” and regretted that he did not take more seriously issues that concern the French, such as the environmental crisis And social.
“Macron has spent his time saying that he does not do politics. We would like him to do politics, he is a politician “, reacted on TF1 the far-right candidate Éric Zemmour, who assured that in the next presidential elections they will face” two antagonistic models of civilization over which the French will have to choose “: his and Macron’s.
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