Unanimously, the titles of this Tuesday point to the amateurism and the inability to govern in which the executive now finds itself.
The wind of the millstone did not pass far from the government. Monday at the end of the day, the cross-partisan motion of censure tabled by MP Charles de Courson was rejected by only nine votes in the National Assembly, and the disputed pension reform will finally be adopted. A victory “with the taste of defeat”, unanimously underlines the French press on Tuesday.
Borne and the impossibility of governing
Particularly targeted by today’s headlines, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who, for many editorialists, now finds herself unable to govern the country properly.
“Élisabeth Borne, saved but defeated”, title soberly Release, which notes “a victory with a bitter taste for the executive, plunged into a political crisis”. The daily also devotes its front page to the release of journalist Olivier Dubois.
The adoption of the pension reform is not synonymous with victory for the president and his Prime Minister, underlines Paul Quinio in his editorial, quite the contrary.
“For two months, they will have, by badly defending a botched project, demonstrated their amateurism. They will, as rarely, have weakened a Parliament which did not need that. It was necessary to restore its image. They did the other way around,” he said.
Same story on the side of The Republic of the Pyreneeswhich underlines that “the government came very close to the crash”.
“The government has not fallen, but it is anything but a victory and the crisis remains open”, advances the editorialist Jean-Marcel Bouguereau, who rather believes that this is “a new slap in the face for Prime Minister, because only nine votes were needed to bring down his government”.
On the side of Parisian/Today in France, we prefer to devote its front page to the conclusions of the latest IPCC report, also published on Monday. “Borne saves his government with 9 votes”, can we soberly read.
“The king is naked” and deadlocked
Emmanuel Macron is also widely singled out by the press. Humanity crosses out its one with a single word: “Untenable”. The left-wing daily paints a portrait of a weakened government, and reports a “battle against pension reform” which continues in the country.
“So here is the president against the country”, squeals Maurice Ulrich in his editorial. “The king is naked”, he continues, “with him, it is the very image of politics that is permanently damaged”.
“And now, what can Emmanuel Macron do?”, questions for his part Le Figarowhich notes the “impasse” in which the government finds itself.
The rejection of the motion of censure constitutes “a parliamentary victory (…), but in the form of a reprieve for the executive which marks only one stage in the deep crisis that France is currently going through”, adds the marked daily to LAW.
And the one of Free lunch to indicate, perplexed, “It’s ok, but…”. “The failure of the two motions of censure tabled against the government has solved absolutely nothing. Worse. This rejection has fractured the political class a little more, reduced the legitimacy of the Prime Minister, accentuated the determination of the opponents”, lists the columnist Jean-Michel Servant.
An observation finally shared by Republican East. “It’s always a dead end”, notes in his editorial Benoît Gaudibert.
“The cards are in the hand of Emmanuel Macron, more unpopular than ever (…) On the side of the government as on the side of the unions, everyone is looking for the untraceable way out of the social and political crisis which is weighing down the country” .
