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Macron, on and on… French leader debates for 8 hours
PARIS, March 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron has set
a new personal record for talking during a public appearance by debating for
more than eight hours with intellectuals and scientists.
For two and half months, the 41-year-old has criss-crossed France for
town-hall meetings as part of his “Great National Debate”, launched as a
remedy to the anger seen in the “yellow vest” protests.
Previous sessions had seen him show off his stamina, with the former
investment banker fielding questions from voters on issues ranging from
hospital closures to foreign policy, often for four or five hours or more.
But on Monday night he surpassed himself talking in Paris for eight hours
and 10 minutes, finishing at 02:30 am in a room that had slowly emptied of
spectators and even participants, some making their excuses before the end.
The title of the debate — “the main challenges and future issues that
France will be confronted with” — set the tone for sometimes dense
discussions at the presidential palace, which were broadcast on France
Culture radio station.
Sixty intellectuals, economists and environmental scientists took part
with Macron, who won office in May 2017 promising to speak rarely to increase
the impact of his declarations.
– Defending his record –
The “Great National Debate” was written off by some critics before it
started, but it has helped pull the centrist leader out of the worst crisis
of his presidency caused by protests which began in mid-November.
A poll published last Thursday by the Elabe survey group showed Macron’s
approval rating up eight percentage points since December, with 31 percent of
voters having a positive opinion of him.
The “yellow vest” protests started over fuel taxes, but snowballed into a
national revolt against Macron’s governing style and pro-business policies.
He has repeatedly defended his record during debate appearances and again
made the case on Monday for highly contested tax cuts for the wealthy, which
he introduced early in his term.
“We haven’t sufficiently kept productive capital in France which creates
jobs,” he told the audience.
Around 10,000 meetings were organised nationwide between mid-January and
last Friday, when the debate officially finished, with participants
encouraged to discuss government policy and make suggestions.
But a group of five political scientists who were asked to guarantee the
independence of the debate process regretted last week that Macron had been
so personally involved.
With Monday’s discussion he has now joined 11 debates.
“It was perhaps useful to have the president and the government implicated
at the beginning of the process to motivate citizens,” one of the guarantors,
Pascal Perrineau, said on March 12.
But “the way in which that has continued, after initially motivating, has
depressed participation,” he added.
Political opponents have accused Macron of camouflaged campaigning ahead
of European parliament elections in May, while some have compared him to Hugo
Chavez or Fidel Castro — Latin American leaders with a famous taste for
hearing their own voices.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1631 hrs