New high risk week. The protest against the pension reform and the forced passage of the government continues in the street, after several evenings of excesses in Paris as in the big cities of the country. A new day of interprofessional mobilization against the text is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, the tenth since the start of the movement. On the eve of this new balance of power, the executive is considering the best way out of the crisis.
Emmanuel Macron receives Elisabeth Borne at the Elysee Palace this Monday, March 27, with one objective in mind: to move forward and close this hard chapter on pensions. A summons that looks like a crisis meeting and this head to head will be followed by a meeting with the main executives of the majority. As Le Parisien explains, the Prime Minister has the objective, newly set by the President, of widening the majority in the National Assembly. But will that be enough to calm the situation? Nothing is less sure.
Asked by the Ile-de-France daily, a close friend of Emmanuel Macron explains that the events of recent days “give the feeling that there is disorder everywhere and on all subjects. Which is very advantageous for the extremes”. The urgency for the executive is therefore to put out these outbreaks of fire and prevent them from spreading in the coming days, which the Head of State has begun to do by making himself “available to the intersyndicale” in order to move forward on subjects other than retirement. In the line of sight: the end of career, working conditions, remuneration etc., because “the president does not intend to take a break from pensions”, explains a relative to the Parisian. Nevertheless “he seeks to revitalize the relationship with the unions”, he adds.
In addition to this outstretched hand to the unions, Emmanuel Macron is working behind the scenes to breathe new life into his five-year term. Three tools are on the table, including a redesign. Can the government skip this week? What looks like a last chance meeting is also scheduled for Monday.
Emmanuel Macron is counting on his troops. After receiving Elisabeth Borne, the Head of State will summon various ministers this Monday, during a meeting for the “presentation by Elisabeth Borne of the roadmap of the consultations that she is trying to carry out to enlarge the majority”, details The Parisian. Questioned, a participant does not hide his skepticism: “Emmanuel Macron will listen to us, will speak little, will probe us on the reforms which seem to us priorities. But we should not expect announcements. The president especially wants to stage a dynamic policy”.
Will this be enough in the current turmoil? Nothing is less certain and the President of the Republic would keep three cards in hand, ready to be put on the table if the situation requires it. So, redesign or no redesign?
Emmanuel Macron and the government currently have three tools, recalls Le Parisien:
Questioned by the Ile-de-France daily, a “pillar of the majority” comments on these different options: “A reshuffle would not necessarily be up to the moment, a dissolution would result in a central bloc – where we would have to lose around thirty seats – and two extreme poles, so that would not fundamentally change the situation. Finally, a referendum could only relate to pensions, otherwise it would be irrelevant”.
