Presidential election 2022: a president who is almost a candidate, a family debate, and a mea culpa… The political recap of the week – Le Monde

Five months before the first round of the 2022 presidential election, “Le Monde” launches the campaign logbook. A weekly update, published on Friday, to return in words and images to the political facts of the past week and to discuss the upcoming meetings.

• Emmanuel Macron unveils his campaign axes

He is not yet officially a candidate but it is just like. During his speech of about thirty minutes from the Elysee Palace, Tuesday, November 9, Emmanuel Macron embarked – although unofficially – in the battle of the presidential campaign, where he could play, on April 10 and 24, 2022 , his re-election.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Emmanuel Macron continues to stifle the right

If the epidemic resumption of Covid-19 and the need for a third dose for those over 65 occupied the first part of his speech, the President of the Republic took the opportunity to defend his policy and give perspectives that looked like, to be mistaken, to presidential candidate program tracks. Pension reform, fight against unemployment, relaunch of nuclear power, passage on “Obscurantism” and the “Return of nationalism”… Mr. Macron unfolded what could be the central themes of his future campaign.

• At Les Républicains, a first courteous debate and the unity displayed in Colombey

Five candidates gathered on a platform, three hours of debate, four themes addressed… and no winner. Less than a month before the congress (from 1^er to December 4) and the vote of the members of the Les Républicains (LR) party to nominate their candidate for the presidential election, a first debate between the five candidates was held on Monday, November 8, on RTL and LCI.

For this first meeting, Michel Barnier, Xavier Bertrand, Eric Ciotti, Philippe Juvin and Valérie Pécresse discussed purchasing power, immigration, security or even the potential candidacy of the far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour. But five years after the very tense debates in the right-wing primary between Alain Juppé, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Fillon, none of the five applicants had any interest in shooting first.

Read our analysis: Article reserved for our subscribers At Les Républicains, a first courteous debate without a winner for the 2022 presidential election

Only Valérie Pécresse was, at times, a little more pugnacious. The president of the Ile-de-France region, for example, pointed out to Eric Ciotti that his proposal for a single rate of income tax would cause the State to lose revenue, and then questioned Xavier Bertrand on his proposal. to give a “Work premium”, which it does not consider effective enough to increase wages. Later, she criticized Michel Barnier for not quantifying his proposals.

The day after the debate, the five candidates for the nomination Les Républicains displayed their Gaullist unity and lineage during a joint trip to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises (Haute-Marne), on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the death of General de Gaulle. They will meet for three other debates before the congress weekend: November 14 on BFM-TV and RMC, November 21 on CNews and Europe 1 and November 30 on France 2 and France Inter.

• The shock proposal and the back-pedaling of Arnaud Montebourg

A shock proposal, series reviews, and backpedaling in order. The candidate of the “remountada”, Arnaud Montebourg, lived a complicated week. It all started, Sunday, November 7, on the LCI set. The former minister of productive recovery under François Hollande unveils a new proposal to put pressure on states that refuse to accept the return of their nationals expelled by France. It would be a question of blocking “All transfers” money from individuals intended for the attention of their families living in the countries concerned – either “11 billion going through Western Union”, then advances Mr. Montebourg. An improvised proposal, which caused an uproar on the left.

Read also Article reserved for our subscribers In the Tarn, Arnaud Montebourg’s “remountada” goes wild

The candidate of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, immediately denounced a “Measure of total cruelty” and “Unfair because it hits people who have nothing to do with it”. The boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, criticized his former comrade for “Take up this old proposal from the extreme right”. Eddies are even being felt in Mr. Montebourg’s campaign team. His spokesperson, Mickaël Vallet, regretted “An extremely gross error” and say “To have been one of those who yelled at him”. Young people for Montebourg went as far as publish a press release announcing their withdrawal from his campaign on the pretext of a proposal deemed “Unjust and inhumane”.

Since then, Mr. Montebourg has retracted several times, without managing to overcome the controversy. “Are you still a presidential candidate?” “, asked Jean-Jacques Bourdin bluntly on BFM-TV and RMC, Friday, November 12 – five days after a first mea culpa on LCP. ” It was a mistake, [la proposition] will not be in my program “, replied the still candidate.

• The image of the “World”: Emmanuel Macron at the ceremonies of November 11

The scene contrasts with the tight protocol of the ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, conducted in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, November 11. After the minute of silence in honor of the dead of the First World War, the president approached the official stands for a few minutes’ exchange with the public. “He spent more time meeting them than with the official authorities”, observed Jean-Claude Coutausse, photographer for The world – the Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris, and Jean Castex were notably present.

From the top of the bleacher, the students who came with their class first asked Emmanuel Macron to pose for a selfie. “It was complicated to do, so the children extended their invitation to the ceremony and we returned to the world before, to the good tradition of autographs. During that time, there is his escort a few meters away who waits, who is patient, who goes around in circles, the police are worried ”, says Jean-Claude Coutausse. The president was expected at Mont-Valérien (Hauts-de-Seine) to accommodate the coffin of the last companion of the Liberation, Hubert Germain.

• On the menu for the next few days

Many candidates expected at the “made in France” show. From Yannick Jadot to Eric Zemmour, a host of contenders for the Elysée, declared or not yet, will hurry until Sunday, November 14 in the aisles of the MIF Expo, launched Thursday in Paris. On the program: visits from Valérie Pécresse, Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan or Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Friday, Yannick Jadot Saturday, and the far-right polemicist Eric Zemmour Sunday, the last day of the show. Arnaud Montebourg goes there as a business manager: his honey brand has a stand there throughout the weekend.

Second debate at the Les Républicains party. While new memberships to participate in the party’s nomination vote will no longer be accepted from Wednesday, the five candidates meet for a second debate, Sunday, November 14, from 8:45 p.m. on BFM-TV and RMC. They will debate around four themes: purchasing power, security, social policy and immigration. A debate to follow also live on LeMonde.fr.

The mayors of France choose a president. Battle in sight at the congress of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), from November 16 to 18. The city councilors will elect the successor of François Baroin, at the head of the AMF since 2014. Two lists clash in this ballot, postponed by a year due to the health crisis: one, dubbed by Mr. Baroin , of the LR mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard; and the other from the UDI mayor of Sceaux (Hauts-de-Seine), Philippe Laurent, supported in particular by several elected officials close to the presidential majority. Mr. Macron must also receive a large delegation of mayors at the Elysee Palace on November 17, before speaking at the end of the congress.

Political service