mint Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 This time it's Collomb which has come as a surprise to me because I thought he was solidly behind Macron? Also, he has come across as a reliable pair of hands in these troubled times. To lose 2 ministers (Hulot recently) in such a short space of time is rather more than carelessness. Perhaps Macron is losing his shine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 Well, Hulot was a mistake, based on Macron’s idealism. Competence and the ability to get the shoulder to the wheel was another matter. Hulot could not.Collomb, small, regional politician (Lyons), not able to grow into the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 A number of good articles in Le Mondehttps://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2018/10/02/gerard-collomb-reaffirme-sa-volonte-de-demissionner-macron-demande-au-premier-ministre-de-lui-chercher-un-successeur_5363504_823448.htmlI suspect that the key to all this is"Les tensions n’avaient cessé de s’intensifier entre M. Macron et son soutien de la première heure depuis l’affaire Benalla en juillet. Le locataire de la Place Beauvau « a peu apprécié d’être mis en première ligne sur une affaire qu’il juge ne pas le concerner », avait expliqué son entourage."l'affaireBenalla may not have finished damaging Macron...https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/30/macron-benalla-scandal-undo-him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 I know you can't judge on appearance alone, but Benalla looks like a thug to me (and I mentioned l'affaire Benalla at the time it happened on the forum). Plus I saw those videos of him with his policeman helmet on and laying into people....I thought impersonating a policeman alone could get you into serious trouble?Wools, I don't agree with your assessment of Collomb as merely a small time politician. By all accounts, he was an excellent mayor of Lyon and I wouldn't call Lyon small or provincial. Don't blame him for wanting to go back to local politics; in fact, I think you could be at your most effective at that level.Norman, many thanks for the links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 As an aside......I have been amused by the terms used in the le Monde article to describe the relationship between Macron and Collomb: cirque, grand-guignol, mauvaise vaudeville.Journalists on both sides of the channel must all have been to journalist school where they have stock phrases to describe political events.I am thinking of the relationship that now exists between May and Boris and how the same French terms could be used interchangeably with those favoured by British journalists[:D]Norman, sorry if you think I am dragging British politics into a thread about French politics and I know full well you would not approve. However, by doing so, I might entice some others to air their thoughts[I] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Macron, strikes me as wanting to be in charge of the EU, and not just France. I have not taken to him and much to my surprise, when Hollande was on tv the other evening, thought that he hadn't been so bad really, bit like when I see George W Bush these days, incomparison to the current President he didn't seem that bad in retrospect either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 Ha! Ha, idun! Yes, that's what I think too, about both Hollande AND Bush!Must be right, that absence makes the heart grow fonder[:P]I thought Hollande was USELESS but that he was at heart a decent and well-meaning type. Bush too, but then, Trump would make ANYONE else look better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 I remember a friend of mine saying about 35 years ago that each new Conservative Prime Minister makes the earlier ones look good...And to bring it back to the topic, the French PM must be feeling rather aggrieved at the moment Gérard Collomb avait transgressé de façon stupéfiante la règle élémentaire qui confie au président de la République le pouvoir de nommer les ministres et de mettre fin à leurs fonctions. En réitérant sa décision de manière irrévocable, mardi 2 octobre, qui plus est à son initiative et par voie de presse, il n’a pas hésité à démontrer le peu de cas qu’il fait désormais de l’autorité présidentielle. C’est encore plus cinglant pour le premier ministre, pris au dépourvu en pleine séance de questions d’actualité à l’Assemblée nationale.Who would be Prime minister when he is bypassed by the President? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 Indeed, I thought it was a bit high-handed of Macron at such short notice to say that Philippe would take on Collomb's job and he Philippe had to cancel his trip abroad! I thought Macron had read past the first couple of pages of How to Win Friends and Influence People?OTOH, both Hulot who announced his resignation on a radio interview and Collomb who in effect gave Macron an ultimatum, have not themselves behaved exactly comme il faut? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 The return of Collomb to Lyons is not welcomed by all, by any means, judging by today’s radio reports.It seems that he put lots of placemen and women into jobs in the city admin to keep control of power, hoping to slot back into his fiefdom very easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 That is often the case.It certainly was in Montpellier under Georges Frèche.It comes from the top down structure of politics here where Maires have the power to put people into place rather than being elected by them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 So Macron has at last reshuffled his cabinet. However, I understand that it is now getting difficult for him to get "top people" to join his government. Not surprising perhaps as his approval rating has dropped to 30% ...........how quickly has the mighty fallen!Although I thought the Benalla affair distinctly left a bad smell, I didn't really understand the scale of the scandal in French eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted October 17, 2018 Share Posted October 17, 2018 On the one hand it is because Macron was elected as being a new broom who would clean out the Augean stable, so when the details of how much favouritism Benalla seemed to have enjoyed became public it was a blow to that image and it seemed that nothing much had changed.https://www.lemonde.fr/societe/video/2018/07/27/l-affaire-benalla-resumee-en-5-minutes_5336901_3224.htmlhttps://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/dossier/l-affaire-macron-benallaOn the other hand it was also because the FN who uses propaganda rather like the far right in the USA spread rumours suggesting that Benalla was Macon's 'bit of rough' ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 17, 2018 Author Share Posted October 17, 2018 Oh so it was the FN who propagated THAT bit of rumour about Macron and Benalla!!! Well, I never...........still, what do us little people know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.