Jean Castex -

SYSPEO / SIPA

  • At the beginning of July, Jean Castex was appointed Prime Minister to replace Edouard Philippe.

  • The head of government, who has committed some blunders, is having a difficult time in the polls.

  • Does the Prime Minister suffer from the comparison with his predecessor?

It was two months ago, which is to say a century in these times of coronavirus.

On July 3, Emmanuel Macron appointed Jean Castex to Matignon to everyone's surprise, replacing Edouard Philippe, just re-elected mayor of Le Havre.

At the time, the executive praised the “Swiss Army Knife” profile and close to the territories of the new head of government, who was to raise the country and its economy, shaken by the Covid-19 epidemic.

Eight weeks later, while the virus is actively circulating again in the territory, the Prime Minister is struggling to establish himself as a strong figure in the majority in public opinion.

“It's true that I have a lot of pissing off!

“, He confides to the

Parisian

this Saturday.

“I issue measures.

Sometimes it's not fun, but it's my duty.

And even if I am in full force at the moment, it does not matter.

I assume ”.

Clumsiness, especially on the StopCovid application

Moreover, in opinion polls, Jean Castex is in free fall.

The head of government loses 9 points in one month in that of Ifop, with 46% of French people approving his action.

His confidence rating is also dark in the Kantar Institute poll for

Figaro Magazine

, now at 28% (-5%).

“This unpopularity is logical, because we are in a delicate period for the French.

The health situation is slipping, he only has difficult decisions to make, restrictions while people aspire to live, everyone is a little tense, which is why he is not yet printing ”, explains Erwan Balanant, MoDem deputy of Finistère.

"It's difficult to be in Matignon at the moment, but he also made mistakes, made a few mistakes as on the StopCovid application," blows a majority parliamentarian.

For his first big television show, Thursday, September 24, Jean Castex has indeed created astonishment on the set of "You have the floor" on France 2. Asked about the StopCovid application, launched by the executive to identify and trace the contaminated people, the Prime Minister simply admitted not having downloaded it, causing a strained smile under the mask of his Minister of Health Olivier Véran.

🔴Prime Minister Jean #Castex did not download #StopCovid.

He himself concedes it on @ France2tv # COVID19 #VALP pic.twitter.com/vI6d8Ho295

- Guillaume Daret (@GuillaumeDaret) September 24, 2020

A delicate comparison with Edouard Philippe?

His authority was also undermined at the time of the controversy over wildness, between his two ministers Gerald Darmanin and Eric Dupond-Moretti, whom he failed to appease.

And even the “Monsieur Territories” card, which was to be his trademark, has been tarnished recently: his decision to close restaurants and bars in the Aix-Marseille metropolis last week irritated local elected officials, who denounced a "collective punishment", taken unilaterally.

The star of Jean Castex, who has never shone very high, has therefore paled, even within his majority.

“He clearly suffers from the comparison with his predecessor, but Edouard Philippe had managed the crisis by confinement, a drastic solution, putting the country at a standstill.

He tries to spare the goat and the cabbage.

This tightrope walk is complicated and perilous, ”defends Bruno Bonnell.

"But he has two advantages, continues the deputy LREM from the Rhône, he speaks sincerely and directly to the French and he is complementary to the president, thanks to his culture of the territory, which responds to the accusations of a government above ground".

The comparison with the current mayor of Le Havre is all the more delicate as the former Prime Minister prances himself at the head of the polls.

According to an Odoxa survey published at the end of September, a majority of French people (54%) would even like the return to national political life of the former Prime Minister.

“As soon as a personality takes a distance, he becomes the favorite politician of the French, sweeps Erwan Balanant.

But they don't have the same profile at all.

Philippe had a Norman side, even British, on the humor, the way of being.

Castex is something else… It happens in a more difficult context, where the economic repercussions of the first wave are being felt.

But he has the cards in hand, a 100 billion stimulus plan, that makes it possible to carry out policies ”.

The majority leader will be able to test his authority with his majority on Thursday, with the arrival in the Assembly of a bill to extend from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy the legal deadline for resorting to abortion.

According to the

JDD

, LREM deputies would like to vote for the text despite the opposite instructions from the government.

Society

Storm Alex: Jean Castex will travel to the Alpes-Maritimes as soon as possible

Politics

Edouard Philippe: A majority of French people want the return to the national plan of the former Prime Minister

  • Edouard Philippe

  • LREM

  • Jean Castex

  • Matignon

  • Prime Minister