Paris (AFP)

Old wolf of politics and skilful negotiator, the high commissioner Jean-Paul Delevoye however passed in a few days from the status of captain appreciated by the pension reform to that of weak link of the government.

Suspicions of conflicts of interest, accumulation of activities prohibited: in the middle of a social conflict, this former Chiraquian minister who has become a major figure in Macronie ended up resigning on Monday, after having stepped in the carpet of his multiple activities.

Appointed in September 2017 high commissioner for pension reform then entered government last September, Jean-Paul Delevoye was to bring the bill for a universal system before the Parliament in 2020.

Until the end, the government supported him, the Prime Minister emphasizing his "total good faith".

At the head of a mission little understood by public opinion, this 72-year-old old political backpacker first held consultations for 18 months with social partners, elected officials and citizens on this highly flammable subject.

"I almost went around France," joked with AFP this colossus of 1m93, dark eyebrows and ashy hair, shortly before the publication of his report last July.

"A remarkable job" praised by Emmanuel Macron who, in mid-August, nevertheless calls into question his main proposal, the establishment of a full rate age at 64 years. A first disavowal?

"The position of Emmanuel Macron is part of the debate," retorts Mr. Delevoye, who will oppose head-on the will of the President and his Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to leave open the possibility of applying the reform to only new entrants to the world of work - the famous "grandfather clause".

The high commissioner had however been comforted in July by the postponement of savings measures that risked scuttling his project. Previously, he had also obtained confirmation of the maintenance of the legal starting age at 62, challenged by several ministers in the spring, which had pushed this "man of commitment" to put his resignation in the balance.

- "Great maneuverer" -

He is a customary "digressions" to the point of being "sometimes a bit of a pain", said one of his interlocutors.

But behind his apparent bonhommie hides "a formidable maneuver", according to a government source. "He has this ability to seek arbitration (...) to forget what does not suit him".

This claimed "social Gaullist" can draw on long political experience. Mayor of Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais), his hometown, for 30 years, deputy, senator ... The former merchant in animal feed also chaired the Association of Mayors of France for 10 years.

After his retirement after his ouster at the end of 2015 from the presidency of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) to rally Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Delevoye was first given the reins of the investiture committee for the legislative elections d'En Marche !, thanks to its transparty character, illustrated by its support for a socialist to succeed him in Bapaume and which led to its exclusion from the UMP in 2013.

Then, in the fall of 2017, the titanic construction site for pensions.

Surrounded by a "dream team", as he calls his team, the affable former mediator of the Republic is appreciated by the trade unionists, seduced, like Dominique Corona (Unsa), by "a very curvy character, very affordable, who respects the people in front of him. "

For Frédéric Sève (CFDT), he succeeded in "showing that a site that was said to be incredible, unfeasible, was possible".

Already in 2003, another pension reform, that of civil servants, had revealed the skill of the negotiator, then Minister of the Civil Service of Jacques Chirac (2002-2004), capable of bringing the unions around the table after several months of conflict.

However, his long political experience was not enough to protect him against suspicions of conflicts of interest, particularly with the insurance world. Nor to avoid triggering a controversy over the prohibited cumulation of his function as minister with the paid presidency of a think tank.

"He has been used to signing on to boards of directors for years, earning 15-18,000 euros per month," notes a parliamentary source LREM. "Maybe he thought it would pass."

ac-jmt-chl-rap / cds / bfa / sp

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