- Tweeter
republish
It was this Thursday the sixth trip for Emmanuel Macron as part of the "great national debate" in France. The president wanted to talk to young people aged 15 to 25 who are not particularly present in this consultation so far. A thousand students, high school students, students or apprentices were gathered in a gym in Etang-sur-Arroux near Autun in Burgundy.
" It's up to you to express yourself ! Emmanuel Macron called the young people gathered around him to seize the "big debate", a consultation that prepares " the future of France ", and to be interested in politics.
" Basically, what we have to do is invent the country we want, no more and no less, " the head of state launched by introducing the discussion in the gym of the small town of Etang- sur-Arroux.
During the four-and-a-half hours of the debate, the hands kept getting up to challenge him in the audience. Called to express their " convictions, doubts and questions ", the young people have testified to the high cost of studies, difficulties in entering the workforce, worries about the future of agriculture or the nuclear industry. Concerns sometimes very different from those expressed during the five previous debates in which the Head of State took part in finding a way out of the crisis of "yellow vests".
Responding, sometimes at length, with the support of Education Ministers Jean-Michel Blanquer and Labor Muriel Pénicaud, Emmanuel Macron defended the decisions and reforms implemented since his arrival at the Elysée. While being open to study some of the proposals of stakeholders, as on the Young Booklet or Parcoursup.
Asked by a high school student about the universal national service (SNU), which " raises a lot of questions ", he described it as "an incredible opportunity for your generation, " announcing that " the entire driving license " could be passed in this context.
A "better image"
The president " took a risk by coming before us, " said Sandra Delbeken, 18, a student at the reintegration facility (Epide) of Etang-sur-Arroux. " He gave us a better image of him, someone who is interested in people, " she added, regretting however a debate " a little too long ".
His comrade Florent Pierron, 18, also congratulated himself that the president did not appear too " politician ", as he feared. " I hope he does what he says, like improving life in schools and high schools ."
Emmanuel Macron, who goes back in the polls, plans to participate in one or two debates a week until the end of the "big debate" scheduled for mid-March.
(With AFP)
■ Absence of young people in the suburbs
While Emmanuel Macron meets the young people of Morvan, in the suburbs also these citizen meetings continue. Participants, including a quota of 16- to 25-year-olds, will be drawn from databases of phone numbers, the government said on Thursday. But the report is clear: in Les Mureaux (Paris region) where more than 50% of the population under 30, this debate is not the image of its population and young people do not participate. Reportage.
It is 8 pm at Les Mureaux. The inhabitants arrive drop by drop to participate in this "big debate". They are about twenty, retirees, activists, and one of them speaks ...
Reportage aux Mureaux: the absence of young people in the suburbs around the "grand debate" 07/02/2019 - by Sylvie Koffi
► (Re) read: "Great debate": Emmanuel Macron confronts the difficulties of the suburbs