Macron is unable to regain control. The risk of ‘civil war’ and ‘foreign networks’

On Sunday evening, Brice Couturier was among the 16.7 million French people who watched President Emmanuel Macron’s address to the nation, hoping for reassurance, a decision, or even a glimmer of strategy to extricate the country from the chaos it has been in since the protests against cuts and the high cost of living became more radical. But all he saw was a bewildered president, at a loss in the face of the unrest. “He has shown an inability to anticipate events. At this rate, things will end very badly in France: we are on the brink of civil war,” Couturier, an essayist and expert on French politics, tells Il Foglio. “Macron seems to have not the slightest awareness of the gravity of the situation. He is convinced that these are still just sporadic violent demonstrations. This, however, is a full-blown revolt,” states Couturier.

According to some reports, the President of the Republic had, on Sunday, considered declaring a state of emergency during his address to the nation, before changing his mind mid-afternoon for fear of turmoil on the financial markets and a rise in interest rates in France. Macron’s televised address lasted eight minutes, but no concrete measures were announced: the French president merely expressed his “anger” and “shame” at the urban unrest, violence, looting and widespread devastation. 

Yesterday morning, at the end of the interministerial crisis meeting organised as a matter of urgency following the chaotic weekend – around 2,400 arrests, 1,000 police officers and gendarmes injured, and 3,000 businesses destroyed or looted, as well as incalculable damage to public monuments, starting with Limoges Town Hall, which was set alight by rioters – French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the “far-left movement” of seeking to “provoke widespread disorder (…) across the country in the run-up to the presidential elections”. In France, Lecornu continued, “there is a whole network capable of springing into action, going so far as to jeopardise the presidential election timetable and the conduct of the elections themselves”. This is a concern shared by Couturier. “Under these circumstances, if the level of urban violence continues to rise, these elections will not be able to take place. And that is precisely the aim of the far left. Since they know they cannot win the elections and the far right is likely to prevail, they are sowing chaos in the streets and trying to prevent the election campaign and the elections themselves from proceeding normally,” says the essayist.

Lecornu has not ruled out declaring a state of emergency “if necessary”. For now, he has asked prefects to “impose a series of curfews” (in force since last night in various cities, including Paris, in the République and Les Halles districts), which will be “partial” and “localised” in order to protect shops. Curfews “seem more appropriate” for the time being, according to Lecornu. “The French, watching television, think there is chaos everywhere. Fortunately, this is not the case: we have chaos (…) that is confined to urban centres,” said the head of the executive. But according to Couturier, the government is still unaware of the gravity of the situation. “After ransacking shops, looters from the banlieues could turn their attention to flats. I have received reports that in the Marais district of Paris, people have already received ‘visits’. They have entered blocks of flats and knocked on doors,” says Couturier, indignant and at the same time concerned by the state’s inability to defend the French people.

“We have a state that can no longer guarantee public safety, that is unable to protect us from a wave of looters and hooligans who are turning the country upside down and ruining it,” says Couturier. In 2017, he dedicated a book, “Macron, un président philosophe”, to the key stages in the intellectual and philosophical development of the current French president. In recent years he has sought to defend Macron’s actions against the militant anti-Macronism of a certain intellectual class, and his attempt at a liberal, pro-European revolution in the most Colbertist country in Europe. But now he seems no longer to recognise him. “On Sunday evening, he said we need a peaceful election campaign. But we must equip ourselves with the necessary means to guarantee that peace. He could have declared a state of emergency, yet instead of doing so, he’s off to Kuwait to negotiate oil prices. He’s lost his bearings,” according to Couturier.

On Sunday evening, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez tendered his resignation to Macron. The President rejected it, citing “the need to ensure continuity of command within the police force in the current context”, according to a statement from the Élysée Palace. Couturier, as well as pointing the finger at the French security services for having underestimated the threat, despite the numerous calls for unrest on TikTok, is ultimately convinced that there are “Algerian, Iranian and Russian networks behind the movements seeking to destabilise France”.