Despite the boycott of the opposition, the president launches the National Refoundation Council, a more plural instance to seek consensus
The president, Emmanuel Macron, launched this Thursday the so-called National Refoundation Council (CNR), a new instance of dialogue that aims to bring together the country’s political, economic, social and associative forces to “achieve a consensus on the situation in France and its future” and carry out future reforms. “I want to place our compatriots at the heart of the great decisions of the nation,” said the head of the Elysee, often criticized for his vertical exercise of power.
The creation of the CNR was one of his promises from his electoral campaign for the presidential elections last April. Macron assured the French that he would launch “a new method” of government if he were re-elected. Consequently, he announced in June the creation of this National Refoundation Council, which held its first meeting this Thursday. Full employment, industrialization, school, health, aging well and the ecological transition will be the major issues that he will address, according to the Elysee.
“We don’t need more laws or more decrees, but action on the ground,” Macron said. “We must create consensus. We must try to bring the positions closer and say what we agree with and what we don’t and say what we need », he explained. The president also announced the launch next week of a “very broad” national consultation online and on the ground to generate debate on the country’s great challenges. He did not rule out that this new exercise in dialogue translates into referendums.
The CNR is a nod to the National Council of the Resistance (CNR) of 1943, which united the resistance and created a list of reforms to apply after World War II. The launch site of the National Refoundation Council was not chosen at random. It was done from the National Rugby Center, another CNR, where the French team trains.
The National Refoundation Council, however, began its mission on the wrong foot. The opposition parties and most of the unions boycotted the act, considering that Macron only intends to bypass Parliament. Among the absentees, the president of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, stood out. «I share the diagnosis on the crisis of democracy. But the CNR is not the solution. Confusion between participatory democracy and representative democracy must be avoided,” Larcher, a member of the Republican party, the moderate right, wrote on Twitter.
“Communication Device”
The President of the Senate recalled that “representative democracy” is Parliament and that there already exists in France “a civil society forum” which is the Economic, Social and Environmental Council. For his part, Jordan Bardella, internal president of National Regroupment (former National Front) described the CNR as “another communication device that will not improve the situation of our compatriots at all, which worsens day by day under the presidency of Macron” . “The future of France is decided and debated in the National Assembly,” added this far-right politician.
«52 representatives of political forces, unions and public officials were invited, 40 are here. The 12 absentees are wrong” and “they will not be able to explain later that they have not been consulted, that (decision-making) is too vertical,” added Macron, who promised that “the door will always be open” for those who want to participate in future appointments. of the National Refoundation Council.
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