Reactions focused on the president's mea culpa regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly and his intention to ask the French to “decide” on certain “determining issues”.
Emmanuel Macron led to contrasting reactions within the political spectrum this Tuesday, December 31 after expressing his wishes to the French. If the left hardly seems convinced, the far right finds reason for satisfaction, while the presidential camp and the Republicans welcome the content of this intervention.
Two passages from the presidential address sparked comments from both sides. First the mea culpa on the dissolution of the National Assembly, the Head of State recognizing that this decision has “brought more divisions for the moment” than “solutions for the French”. And secondly, the announcement that he will ask the French, in 2025, to “decide” on certain “determining issues”, whether, according to those around him, through “referendums or citizen conventions”.
“The problem is not just dissolution”
Among the rebels, these two points change nothing. For them, the only solution to escape the current political situation, characterized by a National Assembly fragmented into three blocs, is the departure of Emmanuel Macron. “As long as the parenthesis is not closed, the draft will be painful. We must finish the work…”, enjoins Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X.
Close to the latter and coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard sings the same song. According to him, “it is not enough to recognize one's responsibility, we must draw all the political conclusions: leave.”
His former LFI colleague, Alexis Corbière, underlines on BFMTV that “the problem is not only the dissolution” but also the fact “that (Emmanuel Macron) refused to recognize the result of the legislative elections” where the left came first, by choosing Michel Barnier, from LR, as Prime Minister.
As for the possibility of referendums, Emmanuel Macron will use it to “make plebiscites, that is to say biased questions in his hand to try to make people believe that he is still in the majority”, accuses he said. “It’s communication,” says the rebellious Éric Coquerel, also interviewed on BFMTV.
The ecologist Sandrine Rousseau is trying her luck calling on the president to “start with pension reform”, which the left is calling for to be repealed. “We have no shortage of ideas to submit to him,” also writes Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF. While mocking an Emmanuel Macron who “discovers democracy”, according to him.
“Humility” and “lucidity”
On the far right side, the possibility of a referendum is welcomed with enthusiasm. “It’s a golden opportunity”, while the country “will be blocked for six months”, before a possible dissolution of the National Assembly, judges Aleksandar Nikolic, spokesperson for the National Rally.
“I hope that he will go all the way, that the French will finally be consulted, because for too long the policy that has been pursued has gone the opposite of what the French want in the opinion surveys,” he declares on BFMTV.
Those most convinced by this intervention are obviously the members of the presidential camp. The Minister of Health, Catherine Vautrin, praises on BFMTV “very concrete announcements”, as well as “the capacity for humility” of the President of the Republic “vis-à-vis our fellow citizens”.
Same analysis by Marc Fesneau. The head of Modem deputies welcomes on
Words also echoed by the Les Républicain party, the party's deputy secretary general, Geoffroy Didier, considering that “the president's wishes were marked by humility and lucidity on the situation.”
