Faced with the risk of gas and electricity shortages as winter approaches, Emmanuel Macron will chair a Defense Council on Friday, September 2, devoted to the energy crisis. An idea widely criticized by the opposition, on the right and on the left.
“The President of the Republic likes to appear with his sleeves rolled up“, launches the deputy of the National Rally Laurent Jacobelli. According to him, Emmanuel Macron plays the warlord when he does not know where he is going and this defense council is a new staging.
“He always says that the apocalypse is coming tomorrow, and since the apocalypse doesn’t come, he explains to us that it’s thanks to him…”
Laurent Jacobelli, MP National Rallyat franceinfo
To left too, the method is criticized. The Socialist Party (PS) denounces in particular a contradiction between this Defense Council and the launch of the National Council for Refoundation which intends to involve as many people as possible in the reflection. “There is a real paradox when we have to involve citizens in the collective effort, when we appeal to the sobriety necessary in the face of this crisis and therefore to the commitment of each and everyone“, advances Arthur Delaporte, the spokesman of the PS. He regrets”opacity“of this advice which he opposes to a”minutes of the council of ministers where we could trace everything“.
With the announcement of this new Defense Council, some elected opposition members believe that Emmanuel Macron “bypass parliament“. To the image of the president of the National Rally group in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, who claims on Twitter that “the Assembly be convened as soon as possible, given the urgency of the situation“.
Emmanuel Macron still chooses to bypass Parliament!
Given the urgency of the energy situation, I propose that the National Assembly be convened as soon as possible. It is urgent to find solutions to protect the French without waiting for October. https://t.co/Uiy3Y0SignN
– Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) August 30, 2022
Other members also want this debate. “There is urgency but this urgency must be dealt with in broad daylight by a debate in Parliament“, asks the microphone of franceinfo the deputy Les Républicains du Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont. He wishes to be able to”make proposals to help limit the impact of these shortages on the daily lives of French people”.
Ecologist Sandrine Rousseau also criticizes the lack of discussion. “We don’t know where we’re headed“, she explains, arguing that the ecological and energy transition is a collective affair.
“There is really a need for us to do together, and for us to start from the needs of people in their daily lives.”
Sandrine Rousseau, ecologist MPat franceinfo
Sandrine Rousseau regrets “the solemn word that we are going to have every week, interviews with seriousness in their eyes“. In an attempt to reassure, government spokesman Olivier Véran promised on franceinfo that “transparency will be the key and will be the rule”. He also promised decisions “collective, collegiate” and regular communications.