Paris (AFP)

Summoned to invent a delicate deconfinement plan by next week, Edouard Philippe must also avoid the trap of erratic communication, adding pressure to the biggest challenge since his arrival in Matignon.

Whether it is on the school - a major point of tension - or the "regionalization" of the deconfinement which must begin on May 11, the tracks of the executive have flared this week in sufficiently divergent directions to cause confusion.

While the Prime Minister had given a turn of the screw to government communication, after a few outings, asking the ministers to speak only on their respective fields, the hubbub partly fueled by the Elysée left more beautiful.

Edouard Philippe had carefully avoided coming up last Sunday on the details of the deconfinement during his press conference, by referring to the presentation of the set which will take place "next week", dixit his entourage.

"Crisis communication must be consistent," said an adviser close to the executive. "Now, we can clearly see that there is a problem of discrepancies organized by the summit, by the president, against his ministers, even his Prime Minister," he added.

Thus, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer spoke on Tuesday of a staggered resumption of school from May 11, when the Elysee Palace instead insisted on Thursday on a return on the basis of parental volunteering, without l '' we know whether these are firm leads or arbitrations.

Regions (which manage high schools) and departments (colleges) suddenly asked during interviews Thursday and Friday with Edouard Philippe for clarification in the face of this "big mess", says the president of the Normandy region Hervé Morin.

"The Prime Minister said that the deconfinement was complex, that we were groping, that there were hypotheses," summed up a participant in the meeting with the departments.

Edouard Philippe remains on the front and will hold "several working meetings during the weekend on priority subjects", said those around him citing "the distribution of masks for the general public, tests, resumption of transport, school. .. ".

The ordeal is also personal for the tenant of Matignon after three years of exercise of power, marked by a succession of contested crises and reforms. Already enjoined by Emmanuel Macron to find a quick compromise on pensions at the start of the year, he must now orchestrate an unprecedented deconfinement in a short time.

- "Crisis of dingos" -

"The Prime Minister impresses me. He has a spectacular collection capacity", boasts a pillar of the majority when a minister salutes "his intellectual rigor" especially in the face of "the scientific relativism" which is emerging.

"It is rather the model of car that we needed for a crisis of this nature," said the same, because "we sometimes have the feeling of being in a crisis of dingos surrounded by dingos."

His relatives describe him of course "tired" but also "boosted by the challenges of the crisis", "proud to serve his country", and refute any wear. "It is the same Prime Minister, with the same determination and the same grinta," said a ministerial adviser.

But as with every turbulence crossed, there is no shortage of speculations about his future as head of government.

The promise of a "world after" formulated by Emmanuel Macron did not fail to stir up the ambitions of potential contenders.

A tenor from the right thus greedily observes "the offensive of Bruno Le Maire", the Minister of the Economy, omnipresent in the media. The boss of MoDem François Bayrou, who maintains a jagged relationship with Mr. Philippe, also spreads his messages in all directions.

But, observes a former adviser from the right, referring in particular to the economic and social damage that is looming, "you have to be crazy to want to go to Matignon under these conditions".

© 2020 AFP