Marseille is the president’s favorite destination, with ten official trips since 2016. Emmanuel Macron was not born there, but he is a fan of Olympique de Marseille. “He should never have been born in Amiens”valued Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Renaissance MP for Bouches-du-Rhône. “In fact, he is from Marseille. He corresponds exactly to what Marseille is: rebellious, who does not look like the others.”
“Marseille is a city where you can do anything and miss everything too. It’s the city that concentrates all the evils of the Earth and I know that it probably represents the vision he has for the country. The second city of France cannot stay in the middle of the ford.”
Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Renaissance MP for Bouches-du-Rhôneat franceinfo
But between the creeks and the Old Port, Emmanuel Macron is “a dwarf politically” admits an adviser. Translation: he is not in charge, neither in the city, nor in the department, nor in the region. Only three deputies out of the seven Marseille constituencies are pure Macronists.
Hence probably this desire to “to place lookouts”, according to an elected official, responsible, among other things, for monitoring the “Marseille en grand” plan. There were announcements, a little over a year ago, to renovate the city: a billion for schools, additional police forces, work at the hospital… All under the supervision of a prefect: Laurent Carrier, a man in the shadows, close to the president, responsible for carrying out this plan with local elected officials, such as the president of the Aix-Marseille metropolis, Martine Vassal. “How much he loves this city, he proves it with people who are close to him”believes the former candidate for mayor of Marseille. “They will also make him feel the pulse of the city, because he understood that Marseille was a central weight in France. It is the gateway to Africa and the exit door from Europe. We have something to do, and it’s nice to see that we are considered.”
>> “Marseille en Grand” plan: Benoît Payan announces that he will launch “the construction site of ten schools this year”
In Marseille, from Saturday November 12, it is a former collaborator of Brigitte Macron, Pierre-Olivier Costa, who takes up his duties as president of the Mucem, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations. In the pipes also, the appointment of Christophe Castaner, the former Minister of the Interior, close among those close to the President of the Republic – at the head of the supervisory board of the large port of Marseille, one of the most strategic positions.
“Marseille, city under guardianship” answer the detractors of the head of state. However, everything was built with Benoît Payan, the mayor of the city, a former member of the Socialist Party. But since the last presidential election, Emmanuel Macron and he have been “cold”. When the president arrives at the airport, for what will be his only meeting between the two rounds, he worries aloud: “Will he come and support me ?” Conquered by a motley municipal majority, Benoit Payan will not come. A witness believes that “Macron still has it in the way”.
Emmanuel Macron does not prevent himself from maintaining other networks, as perfectly symbolized by a dinner at the Élysée, given in February 2021, with only Marseillais at the table, in particular the designer Ora-Ïto, present for the work of the palace canopy. Also on the menu, the outlines of the “Marseille en grand” plan and a little political soup: an agreement with Renaud Muselier, the president of the southern region with the aim of preventing PACA from falling into the hands of the National Rally.
Around this table, there is no Jean-Claude Gaudin. But the former mayor knows everything. Now 83 years old, he distills his advice to Emmanuel Macron: “Any advice? No, I wouldn’tcorrects the former elected, but it is true that we speak freely. I knew the President of the Republic when he was a minister.”
“I had invited Emmanuel Macron to lunch one day, and as I have seniority, I had told him: ‘What matters in politics is first of all to be elected deputy’. He said: ‘I don’t want to be a deputy, I want to be President of the Republic’. I admit that I had shortness of breath and a quick demonstration.”
Jean-Claude Gaudin, former mayor of Marseilleat franceinfo
“The people who are close to him have always shown a lot of sympathy towards me”believes Jean-Claude Gaudin.
Emmanuel Macron’s most strategic relationship in Marseille, he maintains it with a powerful businessman: Rodolphe Saadé boss of the shipowner CMA-CGM, nicknamed “the economic master of the city”. 150,000 employees worldwide and billions in profits, he has just bought the emblematic newspaper Provence, following an agreement with Xaviel Niel, of Free.
>> Has the fortune of the boss of CMA CGM gone from “6 to 36 billion euros”, as Fabien Roussel asserts?
At the end of August 2022, Emmanuel Macron placed, to their greatest surprise, these two powerful entrepreneurs next to each other, in the presidential plane, direction Algiers, during an official trip. But that’s not all: so comfortable with Emmanuel Macron, Rodolphe Saadé did not hesitate to be moved and to worry directly with the Head of State about the idea of a tax on superprofits, which caused so much talk at the start of the school year.