Emmanuel Macron reaffirms the importance of suffrage and calls for more effective public action

Addressing the Conseil d’État on Wednesday 12 December, President Emmanuel Macron reiterated a fundamental value of democracy: the systematic consideration of popular suffrage. ‘The people, sovereign today, express themselves through suffrage, which must always be taken into account, because it is the very foundation of any democracy’, he declared at the opening ceremony. His comments could provoke reactions from the left, which denounced the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister as a ‘stolen election’.

A demand for greater efficiency in public action

The President also emphasised the need to enhance the impact of public action, against a backdrop of global upheaval. He recalled that ‘our Western democracies have been profoundly affected and sometimes destabilised by transitions and shocks’ such as the climate, energy and geopolitical crises, while citizens are experiencing a ‘feeling of losing control of their lives’. Faced with these challenges, Emmanuel Macron called for a ‘reinforced culture of efficiency in public action’ and a simplification of collective processes, targeting in particular the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier.

The role of guarantor of national sovereignty

Weakened politically after the dissolution of the Assembly, Emmanuel Macron nevertheless reaffirmed his role as ‘guarantor of the sovereignty of the nation’ and of independent justice. The Vice-President of the Conseil d’État, Didier-Roland Tabuteau, warned against the tendency to call on judges to deputise for the public authorities in matters of policy, calling for their role as the ultimate defender of everyone’s rights to be respected.