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French President Emmanuel Macron was set to outline and clarify his government’s strategy to tackle a growing wave of Covid-19 infections during a televised interview on Wednesday night, the first time the public will hear him speak at length about the epidemic since July.
Macron will speak to two journalists for about 45 minutes in a televised interview at the Elysee presidential palace on Wednesday evening, his first lengthy speech since a similar interview on the July 14 national holiday.
Three months after that interview, which focused primarily on the economic recovery from the first wave of the epidemic, the French president faces criticism for his administration’s handling of the health crisis, with variable and often confusing time constraints that they are unable to reverse the increasing infections and hospitalizations.
The president will announce “longer-term measures,” sources in Macron’s office told AFP. “The French people need clarity in the medium and long term. They need a trajectory, a calendar for the coming months ”.
With the French government warning that the country has entered a strong second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic, the president is under pressure to come up with an effective and coherent plan.
“Macron is expected to show that he has a hand in the epidemic, with a clear strategy and strong measures,” Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, professor of political communication at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris, told RFI. “Nothing would be worse for the country or for Macron than an empty speech.”
Possible curfew
Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Tuesday that options would not be ruled out when it came to new restrictions, although the government had repeatedly said that more general or even localized lockdowns would be the latest efforts.
Presidential sources cited by AFP seemed to hint at a widespread night curfew, which would effectively stop private parties and gatherings that are not legally possible to ban.
“If there is a curfew, it will apply to everyone. How to explain to a restaurant that has to close that a theater can stay open? It will be extremely clear, ”the sources said.
References to clarity suggest that Macron is aware that whatever he says has to be more coherent than the communication strategy used so far.
“There is a lot of anxiety among the French, because the orders are constantly contradictory,” Moreau-Chevrolet said. “They have told us to be careful, but also to continue with the holidays. There may be a curfew, although they say that everything is fine in the schools.
“People have been reproached for being too lax after the confinement, but let’s remember that the message after the confinement was that happy days had returned. Sooner or later, someone, and that is the role of the president, has to draw a line and say what the real strategy and measures are, in a way that clears things up. “
Other restrictions may include extended telecommuting, limited transportation, and public building closings at night.
Government criticized for lack of preparation
On Tuesday, an independent review of the government’s handling of the epidemic highlighted failures in anticipating, preparing for and managing the public health crisis, with reference to depleted stocks of masks, late deployment of tests, lack of coordination between services and lack of emphasis on prevention.
The review, whose final report is due in December, highlights the pressure on the Macron administration to show that it has learned from past mistakes in the coming months. But for Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet, there has been a persistent problem in the political response to the health crisis from the beginning.
“It is the denial of the biological and sanitary reality of the epidemic, the refusal to accept that nature sometimes imposes its own order, rhythm and decisions,” he said. “The leaders of France are not used to being dictated by their decisions, even when a virus does.”
Political dilemma
The government has been desperate to avoid a repeat of the nearly two-month lockdown between March and May that triggered a deep economic recession, but which to date has been the only proven method of reducing infections. But the indicators show that tighter restrictions are needed if the indicators are to decline.
“It is a difficult context, because elections are coming, the first important regional elections [in March 2021] and then the presidential election [in spring 2022]. We are already in an electoral cycle, ”Moreau-Chevrolet said.
“When you have a crisis like this, which requires bold and potentially unpopular decisions at a time when you are trying to make yourself as popular as possible, it is a contradiction in terms that is very difficult to handle, and this is exactly the problem that faces. Emmanuel Macron ”.
