It was April 6, 2016. A date that means nothing to most French people but that every “walker” has in mind. That day, Emmanuel Macron, then Minister of the Economy, launched in Amiens (Somme), where he was born and raised, his movement En Marche!, “a new political movement”, transpartisan, neither left nor right, open to all. The idea was simple: turn the page “old political parties”responsible, according to the tenant of Bercy, for having paralyzed the public debate, to do politics differently.
It is the system of the old political parties that has fed the National Front for so many years. #JT20H pic.twitter.com/RHNi2uhLPD
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 25, 2017
Almost six years later, the turn is spectacular. En Marche!, renamed La République en Marche (LREM), is preparing to become Renaissance, Saturday September 17, during a congress at the Caroussel du Louvre. Activists should, unless surprised, adopt the new organization proposed by the leader of the macronists in the European Parliament, Stéphane Séjourné, future successor to Stanislas Guerini, the current boss of LREM.
A new organization which plans neither more nor less than to adopt the form of a classic party, with activists who will pay a membership fee and will no longer be able to join another political party. “The old world was good!”laughs Nicolas, leader of a LREM committee in Corrèze. “We learn from what hasn’t worked too well in recent years”prefers to say Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, MP for Paris and co-founder of En Marche!. “We are not going to revolutionize the thing, it is an additional step”for its part, understates a framework of LREM.
“Make no mistake: from the moment we won the presidential election, we became institutionalized and became a government political party.”
A Renaissance settingat franceinfo
It therefore remained to record this change of foot by making the presidential movement a real political party. A necessary transformation for most LREM members interviewed by franceinfo, but which some do not believe. Or more.
It must be said that the movement has lost its luster. On paper, it claims 420,000 members. In reality, they are ten times less likely to be active. Only 26,000 people will take part in the vote on the new statutes. François Patriat, the leader of the macronists in the Senate, had denounced in his time a party of “clickers”. All you have to do is browse the site which brings together the various local committees of LREM to realize this.
Many are abandoned. “The committees have completely exploded, we had about fifteen, we only have one active, it’s completely moribund”deplores Hervé, an activist in Cantal. “We end up with three or four people from other local structures, it’s not of much interest”, abounds Jules*, co-host of a committee on the Atlantic coast. Floris, animator in Calvados, also evokes the Covid and the bad decisions of the leaders to explain the halt in the dynamics of the movement at the local level. “When it was necessary to restart the machine, it was complicated. The Parisian movement, very centralized, wanted to regain control by seeking to create direct contact between members and the headquarters”he says.
“They bypassed the departmental structure and that emptied the local committees of their substance.”
Floris, leader of a committee in Calvadosat franceinfo
Floris is not the only one to denounce a very “vertical” where decisions are made in Paris. Everyone talks about it. “We suffered from a little too much Parisianism in our territories”ensures Nicolas from Corrèze. “Macron’s promise was to take the pulse of the field and raise our moods. We did the opposite of that, it’s impressive”, breathes Jules. On the merits, the promise of the debate of ideas has been considerably impoverished, according to his experience.
“We were doing workshops laid by the nation, it was undrinkable. It was done by technocrats and they had to be adapted so that people understood them. Nothing came of it.”
Jules, leader of a LREM committeeat franceinfo
This lack of local presence and organized structures on the ground is partly responsible for the poor results of the macronie in the municipal elections or in the regional and departmental elections. The activists also had the unpleasant surprise of seeing the emergence of political reflexes under the control of apparatchiks. “Macron’s team had promised to do politics differently, and we quickly fell back into the trappings of the old politics”notes a former member of the majority, beaten in June. “In Corrèze, we returned to the old world, with people who did not want to let go and cling to power”says Nicholas.
Well aware of these flaws, the macronist pundits promise that the new party organization will make it possible to better listen to the territories, with members who therefore pay a contribution – the amount of which will be fixed by future internal regulations – and local elected bodies having more resources. “The idea is for Renaissance to be the most decentralized party of the Fifth Republic. We are on a refoundation”ensures the movement.
A change of direction that is widely welcomed. “I am one of the early ‘walkers’ who have constantly pleaded for the conversion of the movement into a party. The goal is to build up muscles to be able to face structured parties”explains Bertrand Mas-Fraissinet, departmental referent of Bouches-du-Rhône. “On the move!, it was very attractive but it showed its limits, we can no longer go beyond”describes Christian, leader of a committee in the Creuse.
“It was good to invent something else. But when it doesn’t work as you want, you have to know how to come back to it.”
Christian, leader of a LREM committee in Creuseat franceinfo
The new party will also see the figure of Emmanuel Macron return to the fold, who had paradoxically distanced himself from the movement he had created. He will be honorary president of Renaissance. “It is a very strong act for grassroots activists, who had internalized this feeling of estrangement from the president”welcomes Bertrand Mas-Fraissinet.
A return of the president which is anything but trivial since Renaissance will mainly aim to prepare the post-Macron. In 2027, the current head of state will not be able to stand again since the Constitution prohibits it. By appointing government heavyweights such as Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin, who have so far stayed away from LREM affairs, among the secretaries general, the macronie hopes to avoid the war of leaders and control the very delicate succession of the president. of the Republic. A bet that only the future will tell if it is a winner.
In the meantime, if activists therefore welcome the transformation of their movement, the enthusiasm is far from overflowing. “I’m pragmatic, I do with what we’re given. There was a need, we’ll see how we can get hold of all that”, points out Floris. But a handful of others no longer believe in it, like Hervé, in Calvados.
“They think it’s good to change the name and renew the statutes, but the evil goes deeper than that. It’s a sword in the water.”
Hervé, activist in Calvadosat franceinfo
This entrepreneur should not slam the door of Renaissance as Jules is about to do. Member of Horizons, he chose the party of Edouard Philippe − “less fantasy but more realism and efficiency” − since he will no longer be able to belong to the two political parties. “I will not give any more extra energy to this adventure. In 2016, Emmanuel Macron wrote ‘Revolution’ and almost nothing happened on the party level”, argues Jules, who describes his two years at the head of a committee as “a lot of trouble for not much”.
Christian, he will stay well at Renaissance. While wondering what will become of his little committee that he tries with other “maintain”. “If, with Renaissance, we can structure ourselves, that’s good. We will do militant work like all the other parties do.” For the presidential formation, it will then be a new page, which will look a lot like what Emmanuel Macron wanted to reform six years ago.
* The first name has been changed at the request of the person concerned.