Paris (AFP)
Miraculous from the moderate right, propelled without notoriety or experience to Matignon, Edouard Philippe imposed his sober brand there during the crises, annoying some or reassuring others by his managerial profile, which became cardinal in the majority over time.
Appointed May 15, 2017 Prime Minister of a president whom he had met only "three times before the first round" of the election, Mr. Philippe, then 46 years old, had humorously described "panic fear "who had taken him over the days preceding his arrival at the head of the government, he who had never exercised leading responsibility.
Just the French had perhaps seen the slender figure of the mayor of Le Havre browse the TV sets in relentless support of his mentor Alain Juppé during the primary of the right in 2016.
But, when he was decided not to represent himself as a deputy in 2017 after having seen his political family implode in the Fillon affair, he was extracted from the rubble of the right by the grace of Emmanuel Macron, eager to send a signal to the center-right after siphoning social democracy.
From this daring bet, Mr. Philippe will claim to draw an unshakeable loyalty and will demand a wise reading of the division of tasks at the top of the executive couple.
Surrounded by a close guard juppeist, he will be a "conductor" responsible for "playing together" his ministers.
"I do not take myself for the composer, nor for the first soloist, and neither for the percussionist at the back of the room," he said.
In the shadow of a Jupiterian presidency, he recognizes at the beginning that it is "difficult to make a name when you have two first names". And then, "Edouard is not someone who pours himself out," slides a friend, observing that nothing ever leaks from his interviews with Mr. Macron.
- "Assumed Liberal" -
This great grandson of dockworker and son of teachers, who "loves the state almost like you love an object" (dixit a relative) and gets candy at the first opportunity, will reveal himself by touches, sliding here a reference to Bob Dylan and there to Léonard Cohen, quoting Alexandre Dumas, verses from Cyrano de Bergerac ("We don't abdicate the honor of being a target") or talking with Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the "virtus" Roman.
"Edouard Philippe is an elegant man, with a pleasant mix, an assumed liberal and who says it clearly", compliments the leader of the Insoumis, who, a long time ago, had welcomed in his office of senator M. Philippe for his ENA revisions.
This constancy will be as much its strength as its weakness. "Edouard Philippe is someone by right, who says things," agrees a union leader, before castigating his "budgetary obsession".
"Too stiff", "too techno", even "arrogant" ... These criticisms will stick to the skin of the State Councilor, heightened by certain contested decisions. Starting with the maintenance of the carbon tax in the fall of 2018, which will precipitate the crisis of yellow vests.
This boxing lover, with scathing ironies, will cash without blinking the blows around his first flagship measure (limit the speed on certain roads to 80 km / h), then during resounding resignations within his government (Nicolas Hulot, Gérard Collomb).
He will also carefully apply a presidential program that he had not designed. Reform of the Labor Code, wealth tax, SNCF, evacuation of Notre-Dame-des-Landes until the redesign year after year of the pension system, suspended by the epidemic of coronavirus.
- "Reassuring" -
Sometimes put under public pressure by Emmanuel Macron, Mr. Philippe complies. And finally sees his popularity rating soar for his implementation of deconfinement.
"People wanted this more managerial, more reassuring side," analyzes a minister.
But it was also during this crisis that the rumors of friction between MM. Macron and Philippe intensified, entertained by people annoyed by the growing influence of the Prime Minister.
Because Edouard Philippe, who has always refused to join La République en Marche, has asserted himself as a central part of the majority, capable of anchoring on his name a right-wing electorate that has become crucial over time, as evidenced by the Europeans of 2019.
Reinforced by its success in municipal elections in Le Havre, when LREM suffered a heavy defeat elsewhere, had Mr. Philippe suddenly become too bulky? Accused of drying up Mr. Macron's reformist radicalism, did he prevent the president from "reinventing himself" like his critics' suspect? And then how to embody a green shift with this former lobbyist from Areva?
With Emmanuel Macron, "they have different histories, identities, sometimes political," agrees a close to Mr. Philippe. "Today we only see that: people say that this difference is a source of rupture. But for three years this difference was rather a source of complementarity," he underlines, bitter.
© 2020 AFP