Blanquer in Ibiza: why the minister finds himself under even more pressure

Louis de Raguenel 2:03 p.m., January 18, 2022

This is information revealed by Mediapart which did not fail to react.

Jean-Michel Blanquer was in Ibiza when he unveiled the new health protocol for the school to

newspaper on January 2.

Information confirmed in the wake of his ministry, which has since created controversy.

On the side of the opposition the criticism fuses, and one even calls for the resignation of the Minister of Education. 

On honeymoon

The oppositions indeed accuse Jean-Michel Blanquer of having prepared the last return to school during the Christmas holidays, from the Balearic Islands and more precisely from the island of Ibiza. It is almost certain that if he had spent his holidays in Châteaudun or Charleville-Mézières, we might not have talked about him as much. But it's still clumsy. Ibiza is often associated with partying, luxury and excess. A reputation that is quite unjustified.

Still, the Minister of Education did not really need that, because for two weeks now the right and the left have been pounding their target: Jean-Michel Blanquer.

With the reproach that parents of students discovered the new health protocol in schools the day before the start of the school year, in an interview with Le

.

>> Find Europe midi in replay and podcast here

So with this new information on the fact that he was in Ibiza during his phone call on Saturday, that is to say the day before the start of the school year, the controversy is relaunched.

The whole challenge now for Jean-Michel Blanquer is therefore to hold on and not put himself in the situation of the minister who can no longer perform his duties.

It is probably no coincidence but this Tuesday morning, several of his friends told Europe 1 that in reality, the minister got married last weekend and his vacation in the Balearic Islands was in a way his trip of weddings.

Not sure that this is enough to put out the fire. 

"A whole government that must be replaced"

Invited to Europe Midi on Tuesday, Othman Nasrou, vice-president of the Île-de-France region and spokesperson for the LR presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse, considered that it was a "total failure" for Macronie.

"For two weeks we have been asking for the reasons for this fiasco and this generalized disorganization observed at school [...] It is a total failure but not only that of a minister, it is the "failure of a government. There was another possible management of this health crisis and in particular on the school, in particular on the subject of self-tests", he asked. 

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Regarding the calls for the resignation of Jean-Michel Blanquer by certain members of the opposition, Othman Nasrou estimated that "if the start of the school year had gone well", there would not be these discussions. "What shocks me is that we knew there were going to be big problems with this start of the school year and that the necessary things were not done in time. This government is always late, he always has a problem of anticipation and he is always improvising. The educational community does not have to discover the health protocol the night before the start of the school year, regardless of the location of the minister at that time " , he continued.

As for the presence of Jean-Michel Blanquer in Ibiza during his interview with

, the spokesperson for Valérie Pécresse said he understood the excitement caused by this information.

"I understand that this is shocking. But the reality is that in three months it is not a minister who must be replaced but an entire government. For two years we have had vertical, solitary management, without consultation of this health crisis and especially without anticipation. This is why this election next April is so important.