Did Emmanuel Macron really need to speak?

Establishment of confinement or a curfew, lifting of restrictions, opening of vaccination … Since the start of the epidemic, Emmanuel Macron’s seven speeches have concurred with the major steps in the management of the coronavirus crisis.

However, this Monday evening, we are not taking too much risk by asserting that the President of the Republic will not announce either re-containment or curfew. But if none of this is on the program, why is Emmanuel Macron speaking, when he could let his ministers take care of it?

Convince caregivers, reassure the French

In addition to the possible expansion of the health pass or the precision of the calendar of the pension reform, it is above all the vaccination obligation of caregivers that must be decided this Monday evening. And if the President of the Republic is responsible for the announcement himself, it is because the measure crystallizes the debates. According to the latest figures from the French Hospital Federation (FHF), the vaccination rate for caregivers peaks at 57% in nursing homes and 64% in hospitals. How to convince the French reluctant to be vaccinated if the professionals who treat them are themselves reluctant to the vaccine?

For Alexandre Eyries, teacher-researcher in information and communication sciences at the University of Burgundy *, Emmanuel Macron’s objective is multiple: to educate, reassure and convince. “There is first a part of pedagogy, explaining to the population why it is imposing this measure. And then, he must convince caregivers, show that they must be protected in order to protect others. But he must also reassure the French, because the mistrust of caregivers in the face of vaccination, it causes a lot of unrest in public opinion, ”he explained to 20 minutes.

A key stage in the health crisis

Exceptionally, exceptional speech. And for good reason, the epidemic situation worries the authorities more and more: cases of contamination are on the rise, in particular due to the Delta variant, the vaccination figures are stagnating and the arrival of a fourth wave this summer threatens France. . “We are in a transitional phase, there are many uncertainties about vaccination, the obligation for caregivers, on the collective immunity rate to be achieved, on vacations which could become a time bomb if the French relax their efforts, ”says the teacher-researcher, who also believes that the Head of State wants to remind the French that the epidemic is there and that we must not relax.

This Monday evening, the Head of State will speak for the eighth time since the start of the epidemic in March 2020. If he left the intermediate phases to his Prime Ministers – Edouard Philippe then Jean Castex – as well as to his Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, Emmanuel Macron intervened at each key stage of the health crisis. And the speech this Monday evening will not escape the rule. “He speaks whenever there is a pivotal moment, when there is a breakthrough, new measures or when they have been lifted. He wants to show that it is he who sets the course, who dictates the health agenda “, decrypts Alexandre Eyries, estimating that these are speeches” where he reaffirms the responsibility he has towards the French, where he reaffirms his functions regal. There is a will to become Jupiter again which dictates the course to follow ”.

Centralization of power

If Emmanuel Macron speaks this Monday evening, it is also because, since the start of the epidemic, the French executive has chosen to centralize the management of the health crisis, or even to verticalize: “We have seen during the coronavirus crisis that Emmanuel Macron decides, he has his policy applied by his ministers who give the national instructions, which are then applied by the prefects at the territorial level, ”explains Alexandre Eyries.

A centralization denounced by political scientists Delphine Dulong and Brigitte Gaïti who are worried about the narrowing of the space for political decision-making in the crisis around the presidential figure: “The device enables the Elyos figure to be emancipated; the defense council meets at the Elysee Palace under presidential leadership, major decisions are solemnly announced by the President of the Republic in televised broadcasts reaching a large audience, more sectoral measures are presented by members of the government. The political hierarchies are thus staged ”, they explained.
in a column published by our colleagues in World, at the end of January.

And if, with this speech, Emmanuel Macron wanted to recall that it was him, the Head of State, in the literal sense? “When there is a storm, there is a captain, and there, the captain is the head of state. We are not in the posture of a providential man, but a man of the situation who wants to prove himself worthy of the trust that the people have given him, ”concludes the professor-researcher from the University of Burgundy.

* Author of Political communication 3.0?, Dijon university editions