Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

France won’t be fooled by Macron’s radical reinvention

A couple of hours before Emmanuel Macron addressed France on Sunday night I received a meme on WhatsApp from a French friend. It was a game card for ‘Macron’s Aperitif Bingo’, the rules for which were simple: swigs of a drink of your choice would have to be downed every time the president said a certain word or phrase during his latest declaration about his ‘war’ on coronavirus. ‘War’ incidentally was two swigs, while ‘shortage of masks’ was three and ‘sacrifices’ was four. I imagine that by the end of the president’s speech quite a few players were somewhat unsteady on their feet.

One suspects that Macron would not have been amused to learn that while he was making his solemn address to the nation, many of his ‘chers compatriotes’ were guzzling at his expense. How long ago it feels since he strode regally into the Élysée with a vow to restore respect and dignity to the presidency.

As presidential discourses go, I didn’t think it was that bad. It combined humility, contrition and gratitude, and most importantly, for the millions watching, it gave 11 May as the date the confinement will end, provided the French continue to respect the rules of the lockdown, as they have thus far with commendable assiduity .

Macron also uttered what was, for him, a surprising confession: ‘We have to reinvent ourselves, and me first of all,’ he said. But what form will this ‘reinvention’ take? 

According to Bruno Retailleau, the president of the centre-right Republicans in the Senate, the coronavirus crisis has signalled ‘the defeat of progressivism’. That declaration may prove premature. Many such ‘progressives’ were temporarily silenced by the coronavirus crisis, but they’ve regrouped in recent days, suggesting that the virus might be discriminating against ethnic minorities.

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Gavin Mortimer
Written by
Gavin Mortimer

Gavin Mortimer is a British author who lives in Burgundy after many years in Paris. He writes about French politics, terrorism and sport.

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