Tuesday, June 14, before flying to Romania, the President of the Republic addressed the French from the tarmac at Orly airport. An electoral speech whose elements of language challenge. Address and a red line: this is how we could summarize this intervention. The address of a President on the campaign trail, who knows how to find the words to win votes. And a red line that, in doing so, he may cross. But let’s start at the beginning.
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Emmanuel Macron’s objective is obviously to try to save his majority in the National Assembly after a first round which puts him in difficulty. A majority, of course… but not just any majority: “a solid majority in order to face all the challenges of the time and to build hope.” Facing the challenges of the time and building hope: a Hollywood film tirade is beautiful, but we are used to it now, Emmanuel Macron used this type of vague and high-sounding formula throughout the campaign.
And above all there is this expression, “a solid majority”: what does that mean? So, basically, nothing very original: it simply means an absolute majority! 289 deputies at least, which would give the President the assurance, or almost, of passing his laws with complete peace of mind. On the form, on the other hand, it is clever. Because, in “absolute majority”, we hear the word “absolute”, which could evoke “absolute monarchy” and refer us to the criticisms which Emmanuel Macron’s practice of power has already been the subject of. While “solid majority”: it is an expression that only conveys positive images, it suggests experience and stability, it is reassuring… In short, in rhetoric, this is what is called a connotative substitution : the replacement of a term by another, better adapted to the context. Here it is, the address I was talking about.
The red line comes just after, when Emmanuel Macron concludes his (short) intervention: “Neither abstention, nor confusion, but clarification. On Sunday, no voice must be missing from the Republic. On Sunday, I am counting on you to provide the country with a solid majority to face the challenges of our time.” Emmanuel Macron calls for a “republican burst”. This expression has a history. It is the one that is used from April 21, 2002, to call for mobilization to defeat Jean-Marie Le Pen in the Presidential election. A few days ago, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, already dismissed the New Popular Union and the National Rally back-to-back, using the vague expression “the extremes”. There, the President of the Republic goes further: he clearly implies that the alliance gathered behind Jean-Luc Mélenchon would be a threat to the Republic, in the same way as the former President of the National Front, multi-convicted for apology of war crimes, contestation of crimes against humanity, incitement to hatred, discrimination and racial violence.
But there is worse. There is this sentence: “Not a single voice must be missing from the Republic.” Sunday, Elisabeth Borne already claimed to hold “the only project of coherence and responsibility”: as if the presidential camp had the monopoly of reason. Here again, Emmanuel Macron goes further. He speaks as if he were the only one who could claim the values of the Republic. As if all other movements were anti-Republican. Hear me well. That the political debate is hard, relentless, violent even sometimes, it is normal. But that’s a debate. It assumes that one accepts the legitimacy, for his opponents to propose an alternative project.
For democracy to work, there is a minimum on which we must agree: it is the legitimacy to disagree. This is precisely what the President of the Republic is denying here: the legitimacy of not thinking like him. A few years ago, under the influence of anger, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had vociferated “The Republic is me”. He had rightly received a downpour of condemnation. This is exactly what Emmanuel Macron has just said. But he does it from the Elysée. Cool head. And four days before an election. There you have it, the red line we were talking about.