Olivier Véran, the Minister of Health.
-
GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP / POOL
Olivier Véran is on the front line in the crisis, becoming at just forty years old, one of the pillars of the macronie.
The Minister of Health crystallizes the criticisms of the opposition, which often accuses him of “arrogance”.
He remains a major asset for the government and the end of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term.
For almost a year, he has been everywhere.
In the media, in Parliament, in hospitals… Olivier Véran is one of the faces of the health crisis in France.
The Minister of Health was still alongside Prime Minister Jean Castex on Thursday evening for the traditional government press conference on measures to combat the coronavirus.
The former doctor is on the front line in the fight against the epidemic, becoming at just forty years old one of the pillars of Macronie.
"I feel like I'm aging a little faster, that's all," he said to
Point
, to justify his whitened temples.
The former socialist also crystallizes, more than other of his colleagues, the criticisms of the opposition against the crisis management of the executive.
With the slow start of vaccination, the Minister finds himself, once again, at the heart of the storm.
A meteoric rise in the heart of Macronia
The Grenoble University Hospital doctor joined the macronist adventure from the very start in 2016, becoming the health referent for the presidential candidate.
After entering the Assembly in 2012 under the socialist label, he was elected (LREM) deputy for Isère in 2017. He stood out within the group of La République en Marche by his capacity for work.
“He showed in the early years that he was a pillar of our majority, leaving his mark on the Social Security budget as general rapporteur for Social Affairs.
He is hyperactive who works on his files and keeps a great listening capacity, ”confides his colleague and friend Thomas Mesnier, LREM deputy for Charente and former emergency physician.
In January 2020, he becomes rapporteur for the organic component of the pension reform, but events are rushing.
After the revelation of intimate videos of Benjamin Griveaux, the ambitious neurologist is parachuted onto avenue de Ségur to replace Agnès Buzyn, now an LREM candidate in Paris.
He entered government in mid-February as the coronavirus epidemic gained momentum.
"His departure created a vacuum within the group, which is not the case for all ministers," said LREM deputy Anne Genetet.
There were doubts at the time of his appointment, as he had to take over the post on short notice.
But the speed with which he acclimatized, in difficult circumstances, shows his qualities ”.
"He was very affected by the epidemic recovery"
Because very quickly, Olivier Véran faced the storm of Covid-19 and its tens of thousands of deaths.
With Emmanuel Macron and former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, he defines French health policy and must defend the restrictions.
The minister also embodies, in the eyes of many French people, certain failures of the government on masks, tests, and sees the second wave appear, which pushes the President of the Republic to confine the country once again at the end of October.
“The last quarter of 2020 was very difficult.
He was affected by the resumption of the epidemic, as if he took it for himself.
I felt it much more closed, worried, tense, ”notes Anne Genetet, while the minister has been targeted since July by judicial information on the management of the crisis.
In the media and in Parliament, the blows of the opposition are more numerous, more severe.
At the beginning of November, it bursts into full circle.
"That's the reality in our hospitals, if you don't want to hear it, get out of here!"
", He launches to the deputies The Republicans, under a bronca.
A vaccine strategy under fire from critics
Since the start of the school year, the minister has been targeting the slowness of the vaccine strategy.
"He will remain in the collective memory as the one who failed on the masks, the tests and now the vaccine", lashed ten days ago in
the Point
the centrist president of Normandy Hervé Morin.
"He refused to come to Parliament to discuss the vaccine strategy for six weeks, he turned his back on Parliament with contempt," was also annoyed in early January Damien Abad, the boss of the group The Republicans in the Assembly.
"However, the vaccine strategy has turned into an organizational and logistical fiasco".
Definitely, @olivierveran does not miss one to poison our relations!
In the spring, the @Regionsdefrance sent 130 million masks to France to compensate for the shortage of the Ministry ... His memory is selective, his analysis always partisan.
What a pity!
# COVID19 https://t.co/FkrutFWArL
- Renaud Muselier (@RenaudMuselier) January 12, 2021
Beyond his action, Olivier Véran is regularly targeted by the opposition for his "arrogance".
To believe that the man annoys as much, if not more, than the Minister of Health.
"He has a way of expressing himself, extremely lively, which may seem a little contemptuous, but it is really only an impression", defends Sylvain Maillard, spokesperson for LREM deputies.
“It's a tiring and tiring position, the pressure is very strong every day,” he adds.
An asset for the end of the five-year term
"With the Covid, health has become a sovereign subject, so it is normal that it crystallizes anger, that it sometimes takes full face, it's part of the job and if it sometimes appears a little peremptory, the guy is actually very sympathetic, ”assures the elected socialist Jérôme Guedj, who knows him well.
“He was quickly sucked in by events and proved operational.
It has experienced unquestionable failures and obvious successes.
But what is his personal touch in a presidential system?
It's hard to say ".
In the midst of the launch of the vaccine strategy, and as new variants emerge, there is no doubt that the Minister will remain at the forefront in the months to come.
“He's a solid captain, who takes the helm when the going gets tough.
He has become a pillar of government in a complicated period, when the truth of the day is not that of the next day, ”underlines Thomas Mesnier.
And its success promises to be crucial for the re-election of the President of the Republic, according to Anne Genetet.
“It's a centerpiece in the current schedule.
He has no room for error, both in terms of health and politics.
Protecting the health of the French also means saving the end of the five-year term ”.
Health
Vaccination: Five things to remember from Olivier Véran's hearings in the Assembly and the Senate
Politics
Coronavirus: "They are shaking ..." Does the criminal risk have an impact on the government's crisis management?
Covid 19
epidemic
Coronavirus
Olivier Véran
Government