• Tweeter

  • republish

French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting with residents of the Drôme as part of the "Grand National Debate", Bourg-de-Peage, near Valence, January 24, 2019. REUTERS / Emmanuel Foudrot / Pool

This Thursday, January 24, Emmanuel Macron and Laurent Wauquiez found themselves face-to-face in the Drome, Valencia, on the occasion of the third trip of the Head of State in the framework of the "Great National Debate". After this tete-a-tete, the president had lunch with local elected officials, then invited himself to a citizen debate organized in the department.

With our special correspondent in Valencia, Valérie Gas

Laurent Wauquiez waited until the end of the sequence organized in the prefecture of Valencia around Emmanuel Macron to speak in front of the journalists. " I came because I wanted to say things directly to the President of the Republic, face to face, " said the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. My fear is that, in this debate, session after meeting, we are gradually putting under the rug the real concerns of the French. And what I said to Emmanuel Macron is that we needed action. "

Actions for pensioners, acts to lower taxes for the middle classes, acts to respond to the "fed up" territories. The president of the Republican Party (LR) spread his message, but did not answer any questions about his one-on-one exchange with the head of state, which lasted three quarters of an hour.

Emmanuel Macron did not make any statement at the end of the lunch where he exchanged with the mayors without cameras or microphones.

So there was no direct confrontation between Emmanuel Macron and Laurent Wauquiez . Everyone tried to adopt a posture respectful of the republican customs. This is in any case what the Minister of Agriculture, local step, Didier Guillaume tried to explain:

" We can sometimes type, and Laurent Wauquiez is not the last to hit hard. But at the same time, when there is a Republican debate, when the president of the region [Auvergne-] Rhône-Alpes, which is the second region of France, meets the President of the Republic, we remove the armor and remove postures. "

The objective of both parties is to avoid accusations of instrumentalization of this meeting and the debate ... on one side or the other.

Follow Emmanuel Macron's debate live with residents of Drôme

LIVE | Great Debate with the inhabitants of Bourg-de-Péage.https: //t.co/ata8gtesJ0

Elysee (@Elysee) 24 January 2019