Emmanuel Macron, from behind. – Thibault Camus / AP / SIPA
- Emmanuel Macron will be Wednesday and Thursday in the Lot, to meet tourism stakeholders and residents of two villages, Saint-Cyr-Lapopie and Martel.
- This is the first stage of a “Tour de France” of ten trips spread over the entire territory until mid-July.
- The opposition accuses the head of state of already being in the campaign, eleven months before the presidential election.
A president in full deconfinement. Emmanuel Macron is going this Wednesday to the Lot for a two-day trip to meet the actors of tourism and the inhabitants of two villages, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Martel. This is the first trip in a series of ten, spread across the country until mid-July, at a rate of about two per week. “I want to take back my pilgrim’s staff and go to the territories to take the pulse of the country, to get in touch”, he warned at the end of April
in the regional press. Less than a year from the presidential election, has the Head of State, launched in a frantic Tour de France, entered the campaign?
“He wants to return to contact to revive the country, it’s in his character”
By choosing to visit these two medieval villages, the president wishes to emphasize “happy rurality”, a mixture of industrial reconquest, tourism and historical roots, explains the Elysee. It is also an opportunity for him to “accompany the gradual reopening of the country and the revival”, one adds, by defending the plan of 100 billion euros, of which 64 billion remains to be disbursed. But the main part of this trip will be the exchanges with the inhabitants. “He wants to know the expectations of the French, to know how they got through the health crisis and how they project themselves into the future”, continues the presidency.
With this format spread over six weeks, the president returns to the recipe of the “great debate of 2019 or of“ memorial roaming ”of 2018.“ He likes it, he wants to come out, return to contact to revive the country, it’s in his character. It had been rather successful for him during the great debate, “boasts Roland Lescure, spokesperson for La République en Marche, in reference to the yellow vests’ way out of the crisis.
Macron “uses his function of president and his means to campaign”
Since the deconfinement on May 19 and its very publicized café on the terrace with the Prime Minister Jean Castex, Emmanuel Macron is on all fronts: an exchange with basketball player Tony Parker to praise the return of sporting activities, a walkabout in Nevers, and even an anecdotes contest with the star Youtubers Carlito and McFly… “Rather that to chair, Emmanuel Macron is in operation seduction. He is trying to surf the period of deconfinement, ”denounces Julien Dive, deputy for Les Républicains de l’Aisne.
“In economics, we would call it unfair competition, he uses his function of president and his means to campaign, without them being deducted from his future electoral accounts”, adds this close friend of Xavier Bertrand, the boss of Hauts- of France. “Taking a tour of France does not mean understanding the reality of the country, it is more of political communication. As president, he should take care of the suffering country rather than go back to campaign now, ”tackles the rebellious deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis Eric Coquerel.
For the opposition, this early campaign is not trivial, three weeks before the departmental and regional elections. “The days of the master of clocks are over. Emmanuel Macron is now subjected to what is happening in society. The president wishes to occupy the media space because the polls will be very hard for LREM ”, predicts Guillaume Chiche, ex-LREM deputy for Deux-Sèvres. “If he goes into campaign so early, it is also to test the main lines of his future program.
At the time of the “Great March”, in 2016, it started with activists. From now on, he does it alone ”, regrets the elected official, today not registered.
Elysée announces projects
This tour is not a pre-campaign, replies the Elysee: “He has been traveling in the field since day 1 of the five-year term. It is its role to be there for this exit from the historic crisis, at a very important moment for the country. “
“It’s not a campaign. The objective of the president is rather September 2021 than May 2022. It is a question of feeling the concerns to prioritize the sites of the re-entry “, abounds Roland Lescure, LREM deputy of the French abroad, who estimates at” one or two »The number of reforms that the majority would have time to launch before the end of the five-year term.
On the government’s table, the perilous pension reform and that of dependency, which could be coupled. The executive must also work on the perimeter of a “universal youth guarantee” for the underprivileged. “Whatever happens, I will preside until the last quarter of an hour”,
warned Emmanuel Macron. Without specifying the date of his entry into the campaign.