The nation is affected by the tragedy of Mayotte. The decision of the President of the Republic to decree a day of national mourning testifies to this. Citizen mobilization, that of elected officials, communities and state services is strongly committed. The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, arrived on site in the first hours following the hurricane, before the arrival of the Head of State on Thursday.
The reconstruction of Mayotte is immense and we will have to learn all the lessons from this dramatic episode. This project is not only that of the government and state services, it is also ours. What the drama in Mayotte reminds us is how much we need politics to act on things. And citizens must demand it. Determined political action is necessary in Mayotte. The administrative status of this territory is recent since it dates from 2009. This new French department is very poor. We will have to build and rebuild, and political leaders will have to be able to think about the future of Mayotte.
What the hurricane also reminds us of Desire must be faced: extreme climatic episodes are more and more numerous, the human consequences are more and more serious and humanity is facing a considerable challenge. Are we aware of it? Mobilization is there when it comes to repairing the damage but it must also be expressed to prevent it. This is what politics is for in a democracy, to think about the world, to organize society, to anticipate, to implement in the interest of the common good.
Serving the country
At the same time and for months, in Paris, political words have been talkative and leave little room for the search for the common good. While considerable efforts are being made in Mayotte, the country is enjoying the luxury of a political crisis whose outcome is unclear. How to get out? How can we prioritize the search for effective solutions to current issues in the general interest? How to get out of sterile and useless quarrels? The feeling shared by many citizens is that politics is at a standstill, that it no longer acts, that political speeches are dry, from another time, without imagination, without any influence on real life.
Yet we need politics! Democracy needs citizens who are engaged and not spectators, elected officials who are efficient and attentive. And constructive debates. It needs a Parliament that functions in the interest of the country. The elected representative “has a mandate not to carry the voice of its voters but to achieve the common good”, recalls Benjamin Morel in his book on the history of French parliamentarism (2), “it is only on this condition that Parliament can be designed as an institution of deliberation allowing the search for a general interest”.
Good politics is action in the general interest. It must be nourished by a real and sincere commitment to the service of the country. So chick!
(1) You can send your donations to Urgence Mayotte, Ouest-France Solidarité, 10, rue du Breil 35051 Rennes cedex 9.
(2) The Parliament, temple of the Republic, from 1789 to the present day. Composed Pasts, 377 pages, €23
