Bérangère Couillard in Rennes, Firmin Le Bodo in the Vosges, Olivier Dussopt in Côte-d’Or or even Sarah El Haïry in Nantes: last Friday, hostile reception committees equipped with pans awaited members of the government in the four corners of the France. And this, since the vote of the highly contested pension reform.
Monday, it is Emmanuel Macron who could be received in the same way in Lyon. The CGT du Rhône called for a rally before the commemoration ceremony chaired by the Head of State in honor of Jean Moulin, on the occasion of May 8. So to avoid miscommunication and try to start again on a good footing after the social debacle of the last reform, the government is stepping up its strategies to avoid disputes.
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Dussopt changes course
Olivier Dussopt simply decided to bypass the protesters. The Minister of Labor was visiting Genlis (Côte-d’Or) to launch the test in 18 departments of the conditioning of RSA allowances at 15 to 20 hours of work per week. On the road leading to the Solidarity Agency, were scattered hundreds of demonstrators equipped with whistles, banners and saucepans.
The minister changed his itinerary at the last minute, found France Blue Burgundypreferring calm to confrontation with opponents of the reform.
Darmanin’s coaster
The last minute change is also what characterizes Gérald Darmanin’s last trip. The Minister of the Interior went to Gruson in the North on Saturday… although he had denied his visit the day before. Several calls for “casserolades” had been launched on Friday to welcome Gérald Darmanin. In the process, the ministry issued a press release denying this trip.
“Contrary to what is sometimes mistakenly indicated, Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, will not be going to Gruson, in the North, this Saturday May 6, 2023”stipulated this press release posted on Twitter by the Hauts-de-France prefecture headed by Georges-François Leclerc, one of the minister’s relatives. “Clarification: there was never any question of him coming”had added in another tweet the prefecture.
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However, Saturday Gérald Darmanin posted a photograph where he appears smiling from ear to ear alongside the mayor of Gruson, a scissor in hand, ready to cut the ribbon in front of him. “Inauguration of the new town center of Gruson in our beautiful metropolis of Lille with the Mayor”he wrote in the caption of the photo.
The minister’s entourage argued that Gérald Darmanin had “decided to go there at the last moment” and had arrived shortly after the start of the ceremony, according to AFP information.
Security perimeter for Macron
The Head of State opts for another solution: the establishment of a security perimeter, effectively prohibiting gatherings. A few hours before the arrival of Emmanuel Macron in Saintes, as part of the presentation of the reform of vocational high schools this Thursday, the prefecture of Charente-Maritime had published a decree prohibiting any “demonstration” and any “crowding” around the school where the president was going. A ban did not stop demonstrators from protesting.
Rebelote for his trip to Lyon scheduled for Monday. The Rhône prefecture announced on Friday the establishment of a security perimeter with, in particular, the prohibition of “processions, parades and protest rallies”. This Sunday, the CGT filed an appeal to be able to demonstrate in the Montluc district, where the President of the Republic is expected.
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However, since the passage of the pension reform, the president has been trying somehow to regain contact with the French. First with a televised address, then with impromptu visits. The Head of State, who has lived in retreat at the Elysée since the start of the social and political conflict, is now seeking “face-to-face situations to ‘ritualize’ the fact that he retains control, renews the dialogue”underlines Fabienne Martin-Juchat, professor of communication sciences at the University of Grenoble-Alpes, interviewed by AFP.
Maintain only “useful” trips
At Matignon, it was advised that this resumption of contact with the French be done cautiously. With the multiplication of “pans”, the ministers were asked during a weekly point to maintain only “useful” trips, revealed franceinfo last April 27. The idea is to travel only when the minister has to meet a specific person to defend a reform. “It’s not so much that we are afraid of saucepans, it is that it mobilizes the forces of order to secure “justifies an adviser to the radio.
Pans, boos… Macron and his ministers heckled with each trip since the pension reform
But after this turbulent sequence, the ministers seem to be thirsty for ground. So far, it was complicated to speak on other subjects » than pensions, said a secretary of state to Franceinfo. To defend their reform, the ministers now seem ready to go before the pans.
