Amiens (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron returns Thursday to Amiens, his hometown, to chain two days of meetings sweeping the issues of the quinquennium, the social -with the former Whirlpool- to the youth through the crisis of the territories.

By this immersion and claiming the Picardy of his childhood, the head of state will try to break the image of "president disconnected" territories that sticks to his skin since the beginning of his quinquennium.

On the contrary, he is "very proud of his Picardy roots," says his entourage.

This is his first visit to Amiens since a short trip in October 2017 following that of the inter-two presidential rounds of 2017, both marked by the fate of the Whirlpool plant, one of the main industrial sites of the city.

Five months after his election, Emmanuel Macron proudly visited the factory with a buyer, largely helped by the state, which was to save some of the jobs.

Two years later, it is the liquidation of WN, the company chosen to take over the site, now a "ghost factory", according to Patrice Sinoquet, representing CFDT.

The meeting scheduled Friday morning between Emmanuel Macron and the ex-employees promises to be tough. "We will ask him to account!", They warned.

The president, he will tell them "there is a future if we fight," he warns in an interview Wednesday evening at Courrier Picard: "It is I who asked to see them because I am I came to the country at a time when they were afraid for their future, and I spoke to them in a language of truth (...) And like them I believed in them, and like them I was disappointed. "

No less than eight ministers will accompany him, testifying to the diversity of the ten steps of this marathon visit. Which will begin with the inauguration of the new university center of the Citadel, designed by the famous architect Renzo Piano.

The president will dialogue with students, against a backdrop of protest in several facs after the desperate act of a 22-year-old student, who tried to immolate himself by fire in Lyon.

In the evening, Emmanuel Macron will address the young people to launch the festivities of "Amiens, European Capital of Youth 2020".

With his wife Brigitte, also from the city, he will go before contact with Amiens by attending sound and light dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the cathedral, considered one of the most beautiful in France.

For the occasion, important security measures were taken in the city center, where a call to gather was launched on Facebook by a group of "yellow vests".

"We are very happy that the president comes, and we would be even more if we can get in touch with him and tell him what we live on a daily basis, because behind this showcase of a pretty, clean city, there are people who starve, who sleep on the street, "said Melanie Ngoye-Gaham, spokesman for this group," The refractory 80 ".

- "Appeasement" -

Emmanuel Macron will be welcomed by Mayor Brigitte Fouré (UDI), who has just received the support of LREM for municipal. She will face indirectly MP LREM Barbara Pompili, who said it would be on the rival list of Christophe Porquier, ex-EELV, former vice-president of the Picardie region.

François Ruffin, a relative LFI member of the Somme, Wednesday accused Emmanuel Macron to come to Amiens to "launch the campaign" Brigitte Fouré and confuse "partisan politics and role of the head of state."

Friday morning, the head of state will visit the neighborhoods of north Amiens to inaugurate a France Services home, which includes several public services such as the Post Office, Employment Center or health insurance.

Finally, Emmanuel Macron will look into two issues related to transportation: the improvement of rail services in the Somme, with the new CEO of SNCF, Jean-Pierre Farandou, and funding for the Seine-North Canal.

This 107-kilometer long river motorway between Compiègne (Oise) and Aubencheul-au-Bac (North) will facilitate the transport of goods between the Benelux countries and the Paris region, and unload the A1 motorway with 500,000 trucks per year. year.

The head of state is expected to announce the finalization of its funding, estimated at five billion euros, for an opening of the channel in a decade.

A press conference, unpublished for a trip to the province, will close this visit which, following the great debate, must illustrate the will of "listening" and "appeasement" of the executive, with the approach of the strike dreaded December 5 at the SNCF and the RATP.

© 2019 AFP