“It’s a strategy that has been assumed from the start”, explained Marc Fesneau, Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament, Wednesday January 5 on franceinfo, the day after Emmanuel Macron’s statements in The Parisian [article payant], decided to “piss off” the unvaccinated “until the end”. “The president chose a somewhat shocking formula”, he admitted.
The Minister recalls that the implementation of the vaccination pass on January 15 “remains a goal” while the debates were again interrupted last night in the Assembly after these remarks by the president. “If it produces an electric shock for some, I find it saving”, he assured.
>> The examination of the bill suspended again after the words of Emmanuel Macron. Follow our live.
franceinfo: Do you also want to “piss off” the French, as Emmanuel Macron says?
Marc Fesneau: I want to say that we had 271,000 new cases yesterday, and that we need the non-vaccinated to hear the message sent to them by the government, Parliament and the President of the Republic, which is a message of responsibility. The president has chosen a shocking formula to say things that are important. The truth is that in emergencies, and even more in intensive care, we have people who are not vaccinated, this is what clogs the resuscitation services, this is what also makes us forced to deprogram other operations. There is a call to responsibility and we take responsibility. I remind you that the president spoke for the first time on the vaccine issue in July, to say that we had to go towards more constraints for those who were not vaccinated. It is a strategy that has been assumed from the start, which is not a compulsory vaccination strategy, which we could not apply. Now, people need to be vaccinated, we have hindsight.
Three weeks ago on TF1, Emmanuel Macron promised not to hurt the French anymore. Do these words hurt?
I can see that this produces an electric shock for some. If that’s it, I think it’s saving. Everyone has their own vocabulary. Me, what hurts me is to see French people who tell you that the constraint weighs on everyone, whereas those who are not vaccinated should take their responsibility when 92% of French people are vaccinated. It’s in their best interests first, and that’s the most important thing.
The examination of the text on the vaccination pass was again suspended following these comments. The opposition asks Jean Castex to come for the resumption of the debates, will he do it?
There was Minister Véran, I was by his side. The Prime Minister will come if he sees fit to come to these debates. He said a number of things when questioning the government. I do not think that it is its role to respond to the nocturnal or morning ukases of the oppositions. I find that this way that oppositions sometimes have of coming up with somewhat threatening acts, of saying that one summons as if one were in a convocation of I do not know what nature does not suit me. The application on January 15 remains an objective all the same. Debates will resume this afternoon at 3 pm and I hope that reason will prevail. The subject is the vaccination of a maximum of French people.
The deputies decided to set a threshold at 16 years for the vaccination pass. Will 11-16 year olds still be able to use tests to participate in activities?
The initial hypothesis was a vaccination pass for minors. What was decided yesterday is to ensure that for school and extracurricular activities, we can stay in a health pass for children under 16. The general philosophy is not to deprive young people, when they have sometimes stayed at home, without sporting or cultural activities. Olivier Véran has made a commitment to ensure that as many school and extracurricular activities as possible can take place for them. There will be discussions afterwards on the issue of places to eat, but this is not the main topic for 11-16 year olds.