“The pension reform to which I have committed myself before you and which is being carried out by the government will be completed. “This one sentence will find an echo in the streets on January 9, 2020.
Far from the appeasement expected of him after 28 days of strikes, the President of the Republic threw a little more fuel on the already hot issue of pension reform. We were expecting an opening, a new proposal, a widening of the scope of possibilities. None of that.
Emmanuel Macron appeared tense on the screen for the traditional greetings to the French. Uncomfortable even in this exercise. This is understandable after more than four weeks of strikes, demonstrations and disorder throughout the country.
But the man is psychorigid, we know that. That is to say, affected by a psychological stiffness that makes him incapable of adapting to changes. This is a trait of his personality which, in certain situations, could turn against him.
Hot Potato to Edouard Philippe
“The pension reform to which I have committed myself before you and which is being carried out by the government will be completed. “This brutal and unqualified statement appeared to be a real provocation to all those who are fighting to change the executive’s position on this poorly prepared and poorly explained reform.
The President continued: “With the trade unions and employers’ organizations that want it, I expect Edouard Philippe’s government to find the way to a quick compromise… »
And this is how the President unloads (defeats?) this cumbersome dossier on his Prime Minister. By handing him the hot potato, Emmanuel Macron intends in doubt to gain a little time and play the rotten card.
A risky gamble indeed. Because the trade unions involved in this conflict, the opposition political parties (but not that) and beyond, all French people, have understood that the President of the Republic was on another planet. “A Lunar Side” observed by Eric Coquerel, LFI deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis. “Du Sarkozy bas de gamme” for Julien Bayou, National Secretary of the EELV. “Wishes as long as hollow and soulless” for Eric Ciotti, LR deputy from the Alpes-Maritimes.
Meaner: “There is nothing in Emmanuel Hollande’s wishes” mocks Jordan Bardella, RN MEP. Jean-Luc Mélenchon saw in the President’s speech “a declaration of war to the millions of French people who refuse his reform. »
There is therefore nothing more to expect from a president who is stuck on his certainties. On the other hand, there is a good chance that Emmanuel Macron’s words will find a strong echo on 9 January next during the day of strikes and inter-professional and inter-generational demonstrations to reject the reform as it is proposed.
War has indeed been declared.