Scheduled for May 11 by the President of the Republic, the deconfinement is now subject to a passing exam next Thursday. If Emmanuel Macron first wanted to reassure the French by setting a goal, the wait may now be trying for many.
The government blew hot and cold, all weekend, on the date of the deconfinement.
Deconfining, not deconfining, the closer we get to next Thursday, the date on which the government will say whether the release will take place on May 11 and under what conditions, the more trying this kind of swaying will be.
So, it is true that when Emmanuel Macron addressed the French by giving the date of May 11, he made it clear that it was a goal. But his closest collaborators had told me, just after the speech, that setting a date in this way was psychologically important for the French. That it could go a long way in keeping containment in place for another month at the time.
And it is this psychological aspect that is missing, according to you?
Yes. So it is surely done to remobilize the French so that they make the last effort and remain really confined until the end. Unless this is a way to hide the fact that the device is not ready.
All weekend, we had testimonies on the problem of availability of masks, on the distribution system, and especially on the question of tests. So, should we doubt? Is the possible prolongation of confinement due to something other than the somewhat too relaxed attitude of the French?
Oh, watch out, you're going to be called to order on the government website.
I'm shaking. No, seriously, this story of the site on which the government gives its certificate to certain media articles, according to whether they are true or false, is clumsy. In a democracy, it's always a little strange to see the power classify the media as good and not good.
And as I obviously do not believe that we live in dictatorship, despite what certain opponents of Emmanuel Macron take pleasure in saying, there remains an explanation: in this period of war against the coronavirus, and due to the state of 'health emergency, the French were capitalized. Instead of appealing to their individual and collective responsibility, we prefer to play on the fear of the gendarme.
But it is true that with the approach of May 11, there are more people on the streets.
Of course, but is it by reveling in the number of police and gendarmerie checks, is it by brandishing the million tickets issued against walkers that we will more easily get out of this period of confinement?
Around us, several countries have already started their gradual deconfinement. With the same constraints as us, the same insoluble problems of public transport, return to work, reopening of classes. We all know that this period will be difficult and dangerous. The epidemic is likely to start again.
But, will it be necessary again to tame the French, to lock them up and to plant a second time the whole economy. Or would it not be better to make this educated and mature people aware of their responsibility? For me, as they say, the answer is in the question.