President Macron addresses the nation, Monday 17 April 2023
Emmanuel Macron gave one of his periodic televised addresses to the nation this Monday evening.
Unsurprisingly, the president is eager to move on from the bruising fight over pension reform. Just as unsurprisingly, political opponents and union leaders were quick to take to the airwaves and social media to vent their anger once his broadcast had ended, as this selection of comments on Twitter shows.
Twitter postings following the president's broadcast from Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise), Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement National) and Eric Ciotti (Les Républicains)
These presidential broadcasts are a perfect example of the strengths and weaknesses of presidential power in France.
The format is always the same, no matter who is president. The main TV channels are ordered to clear their schedules at the allotted time. The broadcast then begins with the stirring sounds of the national anthem as the words allocution du président de la République appear against a backdrop of the Elysée Palace. So far, so very regal. The president himself then appears, smartly-dressed and sombre-faced, to deliver his carefully-chosen words to his waiting subjects. According to figures out this morning, around 15 million people dutifully tuned in to watch.
Opening titles of presidential broadcast, Monday 17 April 2023
This type of command performance is emblematic of the remarkable power the French president holds. Witness the pension reforms, which opinion polls consistently show to be opposed by around 70% of the population. Once it was clear that the president didn’t even have a majority in parliament to pass the legislation, he was able to cancel the vote and use the 49.3 ruling to push it through anyway. How many European systems of government allow that?
There are few modern democracies where this much power resides in the executive. Yet, this power can also be the weakness that then makes profound reform so difficult in France.
The French president does not have to succumb to the usual tests and pressures that his counterparts in other democracies have to endure. For the French president, there is none of the regular parliamentary scrutiny that other European leaders face. He never even faces a political opponent in a TV studio, except for the once-every-five-years debate between the two final presidential contenders. Even on the rare occasions when the president is interviewed by journalists, the format tends to be highly controlled. The journalists are approved in advance and there are usually two of them from different channels. The interview almost always takes place in the grand surroundings of the Elysée Palace, with the president seated behind a desk. The visuals and dynamics are already stacked in the president’s favour.
Yet this privileged position is actually more of a disadvantage to French presidents than it seems.
By being so remote and so superior, the president never gets the opportunity to make his case in a more discursive and dynamic setting. He is never able to meet voters, journalists and opponents on their level, responding to criticism and making his case. The qualities that make someone like Emmanuel Macron both relatable and convincing on the campaign trail are then hidden away once he becomes president.
Prior to the last election in 2022, Emmanuel Macron made a few appearances on some of the popular early evening political discussion programmes. In this appearance on C à vous, it is noticeable how relaxed and personable he seems. Macron is an excellent speaker and debater and thrives in these situations. Why not make a shift and put himself in these formats more often?
Emmanuel Macron, C à vous, France 5, 18 April 2022
In a column in Le Monde this week, political journalist and commentator Solenn de Royer argues that France is suffering from a system of government that has run out of steam. She uses the term verticalité to describe a way of governing that was designed in 1958 by General de Gaulle but is now unsuited to the needs of the country. To me, this verticalité can be translated as a remote, high-handed and technocratic way of governing that is perfectly illustrated by these presidential broadcasts.
Instead, de Royer argues that Macron the president should rediscover Macron the disruptor who was able to upset the political landscape against all the odds with his win in 2017.
At heart, Emmanuel Macron is courageous, outspoken and bold. Yet, as president, he has accepted many of the established rules and codes of his predecessors. As de Royer says, he needs to rediscover the DNA that got him to the presidency in the first place. Perhaps by breaking the rules and disrupting these entrenched ways of behaving as president can Macron become the president he really wants to be.
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