[Grem] The Rise and Fall of Emmanuel Macron

[Emoke Greschik]

 France: The Rise and Fall of Emmanuel Macron


* by Guy Millière
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Guy+Milli%C3%A8re> August 16,
2018 at 5:00 am*

*https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12850/emmanuel-macron-rise-fall
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12850/emmanuel-macron-rise-fall>*
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   -

   France's Justice Department is not independent of the government; no
   judge will seek to know more about Macron's scandal. No thorough and deep
   investigation will take place. The French media are largely subsidized by
   the government and no more independent of the government than the Justice
   Department is.
   -

   Even the French media that are not funded by the state self-censor what
   they report, because they are supported by businesses that depend on
   government contracts. No French journalist will try to discover a thing.
   -

   The economist Charles Gave recently used statistical data to demonstrate
   that if nothing changes, the non-Muslim population of France could be a
   minority in 40 years. He added: "What happened to Spain or Asia Minor in
   the 10th and 11th centuries will happen to Europe in the 21st century, that
   is a certainty."

When Emmanuel Macron was elected president of France in May 2017, he was
portrayed as a reformer
<https://www.politico.eu/article/president-emmanuel-macron-5-takeaways-france-election-win/>
who was going to change everything in France and beyond.

Fourteen months later, illusions are gone
<https://www.latribune.fr/economie/france/politique-economique-les-francais-jugent-severement-macron-764871.html>
. The reforms carried out have been essentially cosmetic and failed to slow
France's sclerotic decline. Economic growth is close to zero: 0.2 per cent
<https://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/actualite-economique/la-croissance-stagne-a-0-2-au-2e-trimestre_2028083.html>
in the second quarter of 2018. Unemployment
<https://www.journaldunet.com/management/conjoncture/1038148-chomage-le-chomage-en-hausse-au-second-trimestre-2018/>,
at around 8.9%, remains high. French public spending
<http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2018/03/07/20002-20180307ARTFIG00349-pourquoi-paris-est-toujours-la-championne-des-depenses-publiques-en-zone-euro8230-et-risque-de-le-rester.php>
as a percent of GDP is, at 56.4%, still the highest in Europe
<https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/government-spending-to-gdp?continent=europe>.
The country is still frequently paralyzed by public transportation strikes
<https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2018/04/05/calendrier-des-greves-annoncees-dans-les-transports_5281011_4355770.html>.
No-go zones continue to spread
<http://theliberal.ie/french-president-macron-calls-on-local-government-to-combat-islamic-no-go-zones-which-are-spreading-across-the-country/>,
and Macron himself recently admitted his helplessness by asking for a "general
mobilization
<http://www.elysee.fr/declarations/article/discours-du-president-de-la-republique-la-france-une-chance-pour-chacun/>"
of the population. Riots
<https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/04/world/europe/france-police-killing-riots.html>
are frequent; large-scale public events lead to looting
<https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-05-01/far-left-anarchists-smash-windows-in-paris-during-may-day-rally>
and arson
<https://pjmedia.com/trending/1031-cars-burned-510-suspects-arrested-in-france-immigrant-new-years-arson/>.
The night after the French team's victory at the soccer World Cup, hundreds
of thugs
<https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/989289/world-cup-final-france-vs-croatia-riots-Paris-French-celebrations>
mingling with the crowds broke windows, vandalized banks and ATMs,
destroyed street signs and torched cars.

As most economic activity in France stops in July and August
<https://www.expatica.com/fr/about/Holidays-in-France-the-French-Calendar_101091.html>,
Macron might have thought he could enjoy a summer break. He could not.

French President Emmanuel Macron. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

On July 19, the daily *Le Monde* published a video
<https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/video/2018/07/19/affaire-benalla-une-video-montre-un-collaborateur-de-macron-frappant-un-manifestant_5333572_1653578.html>
from May 1 showing a man in a police helmet brutally assaulting two people
in the center of Paris. A description accompanying the video explained that
the violent man was "Alexandre Benalla, in charge of the head of state's
security."

Benalla was, in fact, Macron's personal bodyguard
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/emmanuel-macron-aide-investigation-filmed-beating-protester/>.
He protected Macron at all times
<http://lavdn.lavoixdunord.fr/420091/article/2018-07-20/alexandre-benalla-ce-proche-du-president-qu-voyait-souvent-au-touquet>,
including during private trips to a ski resort
<https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/fait-divers/quand-benalla-skiait-avec-macron_2026561.html>
or on the beach
<https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/hauts-de-france/cote-opale/touquet/alexandre-benalla-avait-cles-villa-du-touquet-brigitte-emmanuel-macron-1516591.html>.
Documents were made public showing that Benalla claimed
<http://www.bfmtv.com/politique/la-vraie-fausse-carte-de-visite-d-alexandre-benalla-a-l-elysee-1494234.html>
to be "deputy chief of staff of the President"; however, on any official
list of staff members, his name never appeared. Benalla also obtained
secret security clearance without apparent justification, and although he
did not pass the exam to become a *gendarme*, he magically received the
title of lieutenant-colonel of the Gendarmerie
<http://www.liberation.fr/france/2018/07/23/benalla-un-lieutenant-colonel-a-l-expertise-peu-evidente_1668349>
-- the same title as Arnaud Beltrame
<http://www.france24.com/fr/20180324-france-attaques-terroristes-carcassonne-trebes-lieutenant-colonel-beltrame-heros-aude>,
a hero with more than two decades of exemplary service, crowned by
exchanging himself for a woman held hostage by an Islamic terrorist who
then slit Beltrame's throat.

Benalla enjoyed all sorts of perks
<https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/appartement-et-voiture-de-fonction-salaire-le-joli-train-de-vie-dalexandre-benalla-1299251>,
from a chauffeur-driven car to a 2,000-square-foot apartment
<https://web.archive.org/web/20180801152926/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/car-gun-money-scandal-macrons-aide-grips-france-56960394>
in a sumptuous state-owned building. He also was not prosecuted for a
recent hit-and-run
<https://www.valeursactuelles.com/politique/scandale-benalla-quand-le-collaborateur-de-macron-prenait-la-fuite-apres-un-accident-97466>
.

Macron's political opponents, left and right, asked
<http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2018/07/21/la-mise-sur-pied-de-la-commission-d-enquete-benalla-a-l-assemblee-tourne-au-fiasco_5334302_3224.html>
for a parliamentary commission of inquiry. The Minister of the Interior
said he was aware of the May 1 assault but added that he only learned
<http://www.euronews.com/2018/07/23/collomb-faces-mps-anger-over-handling-of-benalla-affair>
Benalla's name by reading it in the newspapers. The Paris police chief
spoke of "unhealthy friendships
<https://www.valeursactuelles.com/politique/affaire-benalla-le-prefet-denonce-un-copinage-malsain-97555>"
but refused to give any details. The secretary-general of the main police
officers' union (SGP Police FO) spoke up
<http://www.20minutes.fr/politique/2312579-20180724-video-affaire-benalla-barbouzes-service-securite-presidence>
about the presence in the president's entourage of shady security guards
<https://www.20minutes.fr/politique/2312579-20180724-video-affaire-benalla-barbouzes-service-securite-presidence>
"acting beyond any legal control" and clashing with members of the official
protection services.

Macron remained silent for six days. Then, at a private meeting with
parliamentarians and ministers from his party, he said
<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-macron-confidence/frances-macron-says-he-bears-responsibility-for-bodyguard-crisis-idUSKBN1KE1A8>
that he "takes responsibility" for the Benalla affair. At the same
time, he blasted
the media
<http://www.france24.com/en/20180726-france-macron-accuses-press-opposition-benalla-affair-bodyguard-scandal>,
saying "We have a press that is no longer pursuing the truth... What I see
is media power that wants to become judicial power."

It seemed he was hoping to intimidate critics and impose silence. He did
not succeed.

The anger of his opponents only intensified. They called Macron's reaction
to the scandal insulting
<http://www.nicematin.com/politique/video-pour-eric-ciotti-avec-laffaire-benalla-emmanuel-macron-a-fait-une-espece-de-bras-dhonneur-aux-francais-248949>
and inappropriate
<https://www.bfmtv.com/politique/corbiere-s-interroge-sur-l-existence-d-une-cellule-de-securite-rapprochee-aupres-de-macron-1492264.html>.
They insisted that many details looked strange, and that a thorough
investigation was indispensable. A rival politician spoke of the scandal as
rising to "the level of Watergate
<https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2018/07/21/jean-luc-melenchon-cette-affaire-est-du-niveau-du-watergate_5334397_823448.html>
."

But the Justice Department in France is not independent
<https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/justice-emmanuel-macron-refuse-d-accorder-son-independance-au-parquet_2563049.html>
of the government; no judge will seek to know more. No thorough and deep
investigation will take place. The French media are largely subsidized
<https://www.french-property.com/news/french_life/newspapers_press_subsidies/>
by the government and no more independent of it than the Justice Department
is. Even the media that are not funded by the state self-censor what they
report, because they are supported by businesses
<https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/sep/24/france-mediabusiness>
that depend on government contracts. No French journalist will try to
discover a thing.

As the French Constitution does not provide for impeachment, French
Presidents enjoy almost complete immunity
<https://www.economist.com/leaders/2004/02/05/excessively-immune-syndrome>.

Macron knows that his predecessors were able to stay in power despite their
many scandals. Charles de Gaulle created a highly questionable militia that
existed for thirty years: the SAC
<http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/histoire/2018/07/25/31005-20180725ARTFIG00105-ce-qu-etait-vraiment-le-service-d-action-civique.php>
(Civic Action Service). François Mitterrand dissolved the SAC after several
of its members were involved in a bloody killing
<https://www.lemonde.fr/ete-2007/article/2006/07/31/la-tuerie-d-auriol-massacre-chez-les-barbouzards_799844_781732.html>
near Marseilles. Mitterand then created
<http://www.lepoint.fr/politique/mitterand-le-maitre-des-ecoutes-12-03-2014-1800137_20.php>
a "counter-intelligence" unit -- based at the Élysée [Presidential] Palace
-- in charge of intimidating
<https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2010/03/18/799797-huit-super-gendarmes-pour-proteger-la-vie-secrete-de-mazarine.html>
those who might reveal the existence of his hidden second family. In 2005,
nine years after Mitterrand's death, members of the unit were tried
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/09/france.jonhenley> in court
for illegal wiretapping during Mitterrand presidency. Only in 2011, four
years after his second term was completed, was Jacques Chirac given a
lenient two-year suspended prison sentence
<https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/justice/emplois-fictifs-chirac-condamne-a-deux-ans-de-prison-avec-sursis_1061859.html>
for having diverted public funds and abused public trust during his
presidency.

The columnist Ivan Rifoul, in a recent book, described Macron's victory as
a "masquerade
<http://blog.lefigaro.fr/rioufol/2017/11/macron-la-grande-mascarde.html>"
organized by "socialists in decline", "EU apparatchiks", supporters of the
Islamization of Europe, and crony capitalists.

Macron will remain president. He will nevertheless be a diminished
president. Macron pretended to embody an "exemplary Republic
<http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/2018/07/19/31001-20180719ARTFIG00155-affaire-benalla-mais-o-est-passee-la-com-de-la-republique-exemplaire.php>";
he will not be able to do that anymore.

While Macron had previously been able to marginalize his political
opponents, those days seem to be over
<http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2018/07/30/01002-20180730ARTFIG00218-apres-un-an-d-hegemonie-macroniste-les-oppositions-redressent-la-tete.php>.
His opponents have already been criticizing the absence of results of his
economic policy -- slight income tax cuts
<https://www.contrepoints.org/2018/01/26/308317-nouvelles-contributions-taxes-quinquennat>
but many new regulations, and small changes
<https://www.contrepoints.org/2017/09/18/298937-reforme-code-travail-insignifiante>
in a very rigid labor code – as well as his weak response to the rise of
burglaries
<http://leparticulier.lefigaro.fr/jcms/p1_1710550/hausse-du-nombre-de-cambriolages-en-france>,
car- jackings
<https://www.autoplus.fr/actualite/vols-de-voiture-car-jacking-hacking-violence-coyote-1528666.html>,
rapes
<https://www.bfmtv.com/societe/les-agressions-sexuelles-en-nette-hausse-depuis-janvier-1433149.html>
and social
<http://www.europe1.fr/societe/greve-sncf-nous-sommes-dans-un-long-printemps-social-3614771>
unrest
<https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/sncf-air-france-enseignants-qui-fera-greve-jeudi_1994138.html>
.

Now all Macron's decisions will be treated with suspicion and scrutinized
without mercy. He has already postponed
<https://www.la-croix.com/France/Politique/Laffaire-Benalla-bouscule-reforme-constitutionnelle-2018-07-25-1200957640>
a reform of the constitution that was supposed to strengthen presidential
power (namely, his own). Other projects he began -- such as mass
civil-servant layoffs and early-retirement buyouts
<http://www.europe1.fr/economie/fisc-le-gouvernement-pourrait-annoncer-un-plan-de-reduction-massif-du-nombre-de-fonctionnaires-3705263>
and unemployment insurance reform
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-politics-unemployment/french-government-plans-tighter-controls-of-the-unemployed-idUSKBN1GV2S6>
-- will likely be abandoned. His approval rates are falling
<http://www.slate.fr/story/164231/baisse-popularite-emmanuel-macron>.

The deterioration of France rolls on.

A violent fight
<http://www.fdesouche.com/1048807-calais-62-des-echauffourees-ont-eclate-entre-migrants-et-habitants-deux-femmes-blessees>
recently broke out between the residents of Calais and illegal migrants
living in a vast slum encampment -- home to approximately 6,000 migrants --
that reporters call the "Calais Jungle
<https://www.20minutes.fr/dossier/jungle_de_calais>". The government has
promised many times to take care of the situation
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9044/france-migrants-jungle>, but has
not solved the problem. Meanwhile, Calais, with 75,000 inhabitants, is
a ravaged
city <http://www.europe1.fr/societe/calais-ville-deprimee-2662559>: home
prices have collapsed, shops and restaurants have closed their doors, and
people are moving away.

In May, some members of parliament published a report
<https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2018/05/18/rapport-sur-la-seine-saint-denis-les-pouvoirs-du-parlement-en-question_5301114_823448.html>
on the situation in the Paris suburb of Seine Saint Denis. According
<http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/07/29/paris-suburb-home-to-300000-illegal-immigrants-report-says.html>
to the report, 20% of the area's population consists of people similar to
those living in the "Calais Jungle"; hundreds of businesses are on the
verge of bankruptcy and the police are too frightened to do effective work.

The same situation exists in other parts of the country. Riots
<http://www.nicematin.com/faits-divers/scenes-demeutes-a-nice-a-la-suite-dun-accident-de-scooter-249540>
recently erupted between Muslim gangs in Nice, on the French Riviera, as
well as near Porte de La Chapelle
<http://www.fdesouche.com/1021411-paris-bagarre-a-coups-de-batons-porte-de-la-chapelle>,
inside Paris.

The demographic changes in France's population that began several decades
ago are not easing. A few months ago, the economist Charles Gave used
statistical data to demonstrate
<https://www.causeur.fr/demographie-france-europe-immigration-population-146595>
that if nothing changes, the non-Muslim population of France could be a
minority in 40 years. He added: "What happened to Spain or Asia Minor in
the 10th and 11th centuries will happen to Europe in the 21st century, that
is a certainty."

Polls show that if a presidential election were held now, no other French
politician
<http://www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/2018/04/24/31001-20180424ARTFIG00223-jerome-jaffre-notre-vie-politique-depuis-un-an-ne-produit-plus-de-presidentiables.php>
could replace Macron, even though Macron won only 23.8% of votes in the first
round <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39689385> of the 2017
election. The majority of those who voted for him in the second round
seemed to be voting more against his opponent than for Macron. He never
<https://blogs.mediapart.fr/clab/blog/080517/8-francais-sur-10-n-ont-pas-vote-pour-macron-une-autre-analyse-des-resultats>
had popular support.

As for the rest of the continent, Macron is one of the main defenders
<http://www.economist.com/europe/2017/11/09/the-macron-plan-for-europe> of
a multicultural, post-national, post-democratic and post-Christian Europe.
A growing number of Europeans see that trend as leading to the destruction
of their own civilization and have been voting for leaders who resist it.

Politicians who support the same vision of Europe as Macron have, in recent
months, been eliminated from the political scene or reduced to faltering
positions. Italy's Matteo Renzi was badly defeated
<https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5732137/italy-ex-pm-matteo-renzi-resigns-democratic-party-leader-election-results-2018/>
in the 2018 elections. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, once described
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/jean-claude-juncker-poses-challenge-to-merkel-and-austerity-policies-a-1017505.html>
as "the most powerful leader in Europe", now survives in office only
because she agreed to measures
<https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12643/germany-migration-deal> aimed at
limiting further immigration to Germany.

Macron may not fall as abruptly as Renzi, but his position at the moment
looks as precarious as Merkel's.

Leaders embodying resistance to post-national multiculturalism, on the
other hand, have been gaining ground. Hungarian President Viktor Orbán won
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/analysis-orban-wins-third-term-in-hungary-a-1201980.html>
reelection in April and is currently serving his third consecutive term. He
had campaigned for defending Europe's Judeo-Christian roots
<https://www.politico.eu/article/orban-christian-migrants-pledges-to-keep-hungary-safe/>,
for national sovereignty, and against Muslim immigration. Austria's new
Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, has a program
<http://www.dw.com/en/make-austria-great-again-the-rapid-rise-of-sebastian-kurz/a-40313720>
similar to Orbán's. The Polish and Czech governments also hold positions
similar to those of Kurz and Orbán. Matteo Salvini
<http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-italian-interior-minister-salvini-a-1215157.html>,
leader of The League (an anti-mass-migration party), is now Minister of the
Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of Italy.

Macron recently revealed
<https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/978195/emmanuel-macron-news-EU-crisis-populism-italy-immigration>
what he thinks of "populists" such as Orbán, Kurz and Salvini: "a leprosy
all across Europe," and called
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-macron/frances-macron-warns-of-populism-leprosy-italy-hits-back-idUSKBN1JH1NM>
on Europeans to "fight" them.

*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of
27 books on France and Europe.*

*© 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved.* The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of
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