"The manager is me and me alone"

He spoke, but not to the French. Almost a week after the start of the Benalla affair, the President of the Republic came out of his silence, but before a chosen audience. Surprise guest of the pot of end of parliamentary session of the deputies of his majority in the house of Latin America, Emmanuel Macron has taken before them the full responsibility of the crisis which makes tremble the Élysée, the government, the majority, even the Republic, to believe at least the attacks of the opposition. "The exemplary Republic does not prevent mistakes. If they are looking for a manager, it's me and me alone! That they come to seek me, has assailed the head of the state before the deputies LaREM. I trusted Alexandre Benalla. I am the one who confirmed the sanction. "

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A way to put oneself in front row while the parliamentary commission of inquiry auditioned Tuesday the director of Emmanuel Macron's cabinet, Patrick Strzoda, who was an ideal lamp-maker after assuming the disputed sanctions against Alexandre Benalla.

Secret Speech

To defend his troops, the Head of State blasted "the Republic of Fuses (and) the Republic of Hate". No question of taking refuge behind anyone to protect themselves. "We do not sacrifice the heads of officials, ministers or collaborators on the altar of popular emotions," hammered Emmanuel Macron, recognizing however that "the exemplary Republic" which he had sung during the presidential campaign , "Does not prevent mistakes". To begin with that committed with the choice of Alexander Benalla.

If Emmanuel Macron assured not to forget "he was a very committed activist during the campaign," he explained, however, he "felt the acts of May 1 as a disappointment and betrayal." In the process, he denied several rumors circulating on the account of his former collaborator for a week: "Alexandre Benalla has never held the nuclear codes, Alexandre Benalla has never occupied a flat of 300 m2, Alexandre Benalla n ' has never had a salary of 10,000 euros, Alexandre Benalla is not my lover. "

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This speech of the Head of State had been prepared well upstream and held secret until the last minute. One way to cause a surprise effect while voices continue to rise in oppositions for the President of the Republic to address the French. The arrival of the Head of State was actually scheduled for almost a month. The boss of the majority MPs, Richard Ferrand, had personally invited him to cheer up the troops after a parliamentary year of rare intensity.

It was Ferrand who welcomed the President of the Republic, but by a back door, well out of sight, to avoid the journalists present at the entrance of the house of Latin America. Sign that the meeting had been prepared well in advance, all members of the government had also been warned to attend this development of the Head of State. "They all dream of a state affair, when it is actually a small business Benalla," said the spokesman of the government, Benjamin Griveaux, shortly before the speech of Emmanuel Macron.

In the corridors of the Elysee, the intervention of the Head of State did not disappoint his closest advisers. "What the French recognize to the president is to decide and assume the reality of things. Well, he does it. It comes to end the unhealthy bullfighting where many wait for the staging of the execution of this or that collaborator, "welcomed a member of his first circle.

Because in reality, three objectives are hidden behind Emmanuel Macron's speech. First, it is to divert the focus to the opposition, which he continues to criticize the attitude in small committee. Then, he wanted to reassure and rejoin his majority, while some doubts began to be felt in recent days. Finally, he hopes to succeed in procrastinating and containing the pressure, until the investigations administrative (IGPN), judicial (parquet) and parliamentary (Assembly and Senate) come to an end.

»READ ALSO – Follow our live Benalla case

An exit that will perhaps save time but will not be enough to dispense with an explanation in front of the French. Which are starting to show signs of impatience in the various opinion polls, where the popularity of the head of state is dropping sharply. "The president will speak whenever he deems it useful," repeated his entourage enviously, refusing to reveal his schedule. He was in any case to contact the French Wednesday, on the 17th stage of the Tour de France, in the Hautes-Pyrénées. He canceled.