A file that puts the government to shame. On October 5, the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, assured that there was no fuel shortage, but temporary tensions in supply.” The next day, the Minister for the Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier Runacher, considered a way out of the crisis “Within 2-3 days. “
A week later, however, the situation has clearly worsened and there is criticism of the government’s initial inaction. “We weren’t reactive enough, we let people panic,” a behind-the-scenes minister admits to BFMTV. A close friend of the president agrees: “We could have banned the jerrycans and released strategic actions much faster.”
At the Elysee, Emmanuel Macron begins to show his impatience, even his annoyance. “He did not value the management of the file,” continues this relative.
a divided government
And government planning is not going to make things any easier. The following Sunday, half of the executive, including Elisabeth Borne, flew to Algeria thinking that the situation would improve or stabilize within 24 hours.
The opposite is happening and the Prime Minister must call a meeting in Matignon with the 4 ministers involved: Gérald Darmanin, Olivier Véran, Clément Beaune and Agnès Pannier-Runacher (on video due to her Covid).
At this closed door on the rue de Varenne, opinions differ. On the one hand, the Minister of the Interior and the Government spokesman advocate going fast and hard to unblock the situation, in particular with the searches.
For their part, the Head of Government and the Minister of Transport advocate not rushing. “Elisabeth Borne remains faithful to her method: respect for social dialogue,” recalls her entourage.
“We’ve worked hard behind the scenes to put pressure on the companies in question, even if it’s not necessarily visible.” A minister agrees: “Now it is easy to remake the film. If we had done requisitions earlier, we would have been accused of trampling on the unions.”
Coue method?
The same day, traveling to Mayenne, the Head of State takes charge of the file. “The blockade is not a way to negotiate,” said Emmanuel Macron. The next day, Elisabeth Borne announces the requisitions of striking employees to release fuel stocks and refuel service stations. But nothing helps, the situation bogs down.
Result: public opinion severely judges this sequence. In our Elabe poll published on Wednesday, 79% of French people considered that the government was not up to the task on this issue.
On Wednesday night on France 2, the President of the Republic promised a return to normality “during the next week”. Simple prediction or coué method? Response from a ministerial adviser: “I don’t see how we can get out of this quickly.”
Source: BFM TV
