18h18 – In the Dordogne, Macron dodges the Benalla affair

To act as if nothing had happened, almost: in the Dordogne, Emmanuel Macron made Thursday a visit apparently quite normal, refusing to react hot to the Benalla affair that ignited media and parties in Paris.

Sun, selfies and encouragement of inhabitants: this short visit to the verdant Dordogne was promising.

But the atmosphere was brutally darkened by Le Monde's Wednesday night broadcast of an article and video implicating Alexandre Benalla, one of the president's security men, for hitting a protester May 1.

In Perigueux, upon his arrival, Emmanuel Macron was beset by questions from journalists. All day he ignored them while shaking hands with dozens of locals and vacationers, none of whom questioned him about the affair.

"Only you ask this question kind of questions, "he said, without giving up his smile, to a journalist. "I'm here for people," he said on Wednesday evening.

Only small sprained this silence: a journalist who asked him if the Republic was not "tainted" by this case, he replied : "No no, the Republic is unalterable!"

In his entourage, it is explained that in this kind of crisis, the important thing is "to keep calm" and "not to react under the pressure". While keeping in touch with the Elysée, Matignon or the Assembly

– Nouvelle Marianne –

The Head of State has therefore changed nothing in the program set for this visit to the region. Périgueux on the occasion of the presentation of the face of the new Marianne which will decorate, from July 23, the stamps of current use.

This face, chosen by the president at the beginning of its mandate, was unveiled on an immense fresco of 16 meters by 11 painted on the blind facade of a HLM of a popular district located a few kilometers from the La Poste factory where the stamps are made.

This new Marianne is the work YZ (pronounced Eyes, eyes in English), the artist's name of Yseult Digan, a French-English quadragenarian living in Abidjan and recognized figure of the street-art scene.

"I wanted this Marianne be strong, proud and voluntary, with a frank look towards the future, "she explained. to the 150 or so people present in front of the fresco. She drew him young, in profile, with a decided eye and a face bordered with long curly hair.

"You knew how to marry the reference of the Phrygian cap and the freedom of the hair," greeted Emmanuel Macron. This "Marianne committed" is "the new face of the Republic", "a battle of each day" which "is never acquired", according to him.

As often in his baths of crowd, Emmanuel Macron has was forced to defend his policy face to face, this time, a woman in her forties complaining of "no longer have (see) the means to live" because of the rise in the price of gas or the decrease in aid. The dialogue lasts about ten minutes. "If I thought things were going well, I would not think of changing them," insists the president, baduring him that the APL (Personalized Housing Assistance) will not decline "this year."

Faced with this woman pugnacious, Emmanuel Macron even returned to the order at the Manufacture de Sèvres a new table service for the Elysée, which has recently provoked a controversy. "I can tell you, eyes in the eye, it's not a penny more for taxpayers," he says. "It's not for my good pleasure" and "I've always paid for my plates," says the president.

Before concluding: "I do not mind that we want to permanently dirty, but we must also put the facts in truth. "

In the afternoon, the Head of State inaugurated the House of services to the public in the small town of Sarliac-sur-l? Isle. This wooden building, located on the square, includes the postal agency, the doctor's office or the digital inclusion room to help residents who do not know how to use web services.

"We must reinvent the presence of the Republic in our territories," said the head of state, announcing an "acceleration" of the deployment of structures of the same type and "one-stop shops."