ANALYSIS
He took everyone by surprise. This Wednesday Prime Minister Jean Castex imposed his style during his general policy speech. For an hour, in front of a sometimes agitated National Assembly, the new tenant of Matignon rather succeeded in his baptism of fire, at least on form.
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The local at the heart of all decisions
While many presided over a long speech, punctuated by convoluted sentences in a dreary and professorial tone, the ex "deconfinement gentleman" was precise, accessible, and without verbiage. He did not allow himself to be disturbed by the agitation of the opposition deputies and imposed an uninterrupted rhythm, in a perfectly controlled timing. Jean Castex has put on the Prime Minister's costume: very political, hands in the grease. A largely successful passing exam on form.
Basically, two fundamental elements should be remembered: first, the way in which this elected official in the small town of Prades (6,000 inhabitants) in the Pyrénées-Orientales, wants to place the territories at the heart of everything. He also used the word territory no less than 25 times, almost once every two minutes. He wants to place the local at the heart of all decisions, promises that the territories will have the right to differentiation, that it will be a right enshrined in law.
Finally, to make all this very concrete, Jean Castex announces the redeployment of civil servants: all the job creations that will be authorized in the administration next year will be affected in the departmental services. A measure he calls "revolution".
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An apostle of concertation
But the other element of the Castex style is dialogue. Before the deputies, he positioned himself as an apostle of the consultation and asked deputies, even from the opposition, to make proposals to him.
It also promises to regularly bring together the social partners, the driving forces. A sentence quickly followed by the act, since it begins on Friday morning in Matignon to discuss the calendar, method, including on difficult sites, such as pension reform.