Édouard Philippe comes out of the woods. In an interview granted to figaro, the former prime minister calls on the majority to “broaden” their “political base”. The head of the Horizons party, whose first congress takes place this Saturday in Paris, wants a “coalition with all those who identify with the central bloc.”
According to him, it would be about allying with “LR” as well as with “elected leftists who are not in the Nupes.” The former Jupeist acknowledges the “difficulties” of this “experiment”, but insists:
“When you don’t have an absolute majority, you have to build it.”
“We need an initiative”
Even if the right is torn by pensions, Édouard Philippe believes that “a not inconsiderable mass of elected LRs are part of the central block.” Underlining that “we have four years ahead” for the continuation of Emmanuel Macron’s term, he warns: “Not trying to stabilize the political game is incredibly dangerous and uncertain.”
“We need an initiative”, hammers the mayor of Le Havre who warns against “the temptation of abandonment, of resignation, the idea of ’what good is it?'”.
“When we go through a crisis of this nature, we always get out of it through a form of remobilization and initiative,” he believes.
Retired since the beginning of Emmanuel Macron’s term, the supposed candidate for the 2027 presidential elections takes a position shortly before the Élysée tenant speaks this Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on TFI and France 2.
“Change of Method”
This Tuesday, the President of the Republic multiplied the consultations, speaking with Élisabeth Borne, the leaders of his majority, the party and the ministers in the morning, then with the presidents of the two chambers of Parliament during lunch, before meeting its majority members at night.
The Head of State asked his troops to make “proposals” for a “change of method and reform agenda” “within a maximum period of two or three weeks.” A refrain already sung after the legislative elections last June, Emmanuel Macron then called for “a new method of government”.
The latter, however, excludes in the short term a reshuffle of the government, a referendum or a dissolution of the National Assembly. Édouard Philippe agrees on this last point, who judges that this decision would only make “sense” if “we think that the vote” in the new legislative elections can “clarify[r] the political situation”.
Attempt to defuse the crisis
Present at the meeting held on Tuesday morning at the Élysée Palace, the 50-year-old spoke about a subject, until now flatly rejected by his camp: “Mr. President, you have several options, including the withdrawal of the text”, said. he said he, according to comments reported by the parisian. As expected, the president was not in favor of this hypothesis.
The previous pension reform, carried out during its first five-year period by a certain Édouard Philippe, had suffered that fate, with the executive abandoning his project at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020. Not before having used the 49.3 , denouncing – there too – the “obstruction” of the evaders of the recruitment.
If the president wants to carry out a project that he himself has presented as the “mother of reforms”, he faces a very tense situation. Which is characterized by a text approved without the vote of the deputies with 49.3, a motion of no confidence that was played with 9 votes, or even demonstrations interspersed with violence. The ninth day of mobilization organized by the unions this Thursday will set the tone.
During his interview this Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron – who left Élisabeth Borne at the forefront of the pension reform – will try to lower the pressure. It’s not easy without a big announcement, especially after saying Tuesday that the “crowd” has no “legitimacy” against “the people who speak through their elected representatives.”
Source: BFM TV
