After the excitement of the election of Emmanuel Macron for a second presidential term on April 24, 2022, the media reveal all behind the scenes of this great moment for the Head of State. Thereby Le Figaro returns to the reshuffle, the legislative, the majority and also the off of the organization of his speech on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris.
After spending his weekend in Le Touquet where he went to vote with his wife Brigitte Macron, the outgoing president returned to the Elysée on the evening of April 24. He followed the announcement of the results at 8 p.m. in the village hall of the presidential palace, surrounded by his relatives and, of course, his wife. Indeed, if the polls announced winner Emmanuel Macron, he knows that his opponent Marine Le Pen has made impressive scores especially in the overseas territories. Then, the announcement falls: he is re-elected with more than 58% of the votes. It’s time for the victory speech on the Champ-de-Mars at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. For the public, everything goes smoothly but one fact remains across the throat of the entourage of the French leader.
Le Figaro indeed reveals that “the outgoing president’s team has asked for an exemption to make the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 9:30 p.m., during the speech that Emmanuel Macron must pronounce on the Champ-de-Mars”. However, the request is refused for this time, and at 9 p.m. also by the way: “It is surprisingly light tonight. Exceptionally, we may wait 22 hours to illuminate it“, we report to the campaign managers according to the daily. He then quotes their reaction, marked by a “exasperated smile“: “This is called ‘1.75% nuisance power’…“
A reference to the very low score that the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo achieved during the first round of the presidential election. If the Parisian socialist councilor – whose son did not even vote for her – had called for a vote for the current president to stand up to the far right, his team did not want to give in to the requests of the macronists during of their day of glory.