Prime Minister,
Dear colleagues, dear sisters,
Allow me, on behalf of the Ministerial Press Association, to start with a thought for our Turkish colleagues... three hours from now, the exercise of our profession is becoming more and more dangerous for all those who want to inform independently on a now authoritarian regime. Who would have thought so ten years ago when Turkey was seen as a democracy in the making, ready to attach itself to Europe...
Thoughts also for our very few colleagues and in particular from AFP who, at the risk of their lives, regularly send us news from the Syrian front and are often the last witnesses.
And then, we didn't think we'd be worried about it one day, but solidarity also with our American colleagues who are likely to experience some complicated times in the weeks to come... faced with a president who tweets faster than his shadow... and who does not hold the freedom of the press in very high regard.
But unfortunately there is no need to go so far to be confronted with threats that weigh on our profession: nearly a hundred journalists have had to leave iTélé to protest against ethical abuses after having fought with all their energy... We testify to them right here our friendship.
The lesson for us is simple: nothing is ever acquired. Everything can change at any time. This is why we must remain constantly vigilant about the guarantees that allow us to work without hindrances, without obstacles, without constraints...
I also take this opportunity, Mr. Prime Minister, to alert you to the worrying situation of the press. Many titles are in danger, in particular because of aid granted in an opaque manner.
We are therefore counting on you to take up this question… in the short time available to you.
Because, in the midst of an ocean of unexpected events, of unknowns, of foiled forecasts, there is one thing that is certain or almost certain – it is better to remain cautious from now on! – it is that you will equal a record of duration – of short term - here in Matignon…
At the same time, it's a way like any other to enter history...and in politics, the examples of the past have taught us: duration is not necessarily a guarantee of efficiency...
It is therefore already the insurance for you to leave a trace. And maybe who knows you will take the opportunity of this traditional exchange of vows, always a bit formal, to set yourself apart from your predecessors...
Not only by your words, by answers that we expect, by announcements that are always welcome - we don't change! - but also, for once, by... imitations of which, we know, you have the secret…I can assure you it would be a first!
Another way to surprise why not and to success there also guaranteed: announce to us that you are a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic … after all, why would you be the only Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic not to dream of the Elysée all just climbed the steps of Matignon…
We heard that you were planning to retire. We still have a little trouble believing it… why else did you accept Matignon, anything but a sinecure?
Or maybe you are booking for 2022?
With the year that has just ended, we are no longer close to a surprise!
Because what a vintage 2016 is! I did not think, I admit, that I would present my wishes to a third Prime Minister in four years... even your predecessor Manuel Valls in this same place last year had given us an appointment here in 2017! That is to say !
Your appointment is therefore the result of an extraordinary political season... with a weakened President who many thought would return to the campaign despite historic unpopularity.
He finally threw in the towel, spectacularly... victim of his record on the unemployment front, of a broken link with the French but also of a rebellious majority and finally, finally some say, of a Prime Minister, your friend , your brother – as you yourself confided – pressed and persuaded that he was more the man of the moment!
Not to mention a book by two of our colleagues, hoped for like the dawn of a new conquest and which has turned into a symbol of twilight.
To the right of the chessboard, no better…! we were few if any to predict the victory of an outsider François Fillon.
Everything drives us to humility. It's a useful booster shot for all of us. No judgment can be final.
Maybe we don't listen enough... and yet we should have known: the French didn't want the same final, the same cast as in 2012... here they are served... as usual, they had the last word and will have it again next May… As our American friends did against all odds. We are constantly learning, we must, and especially from our mistakes.
The French expect as much from their leaders, but that is your responsibility...
As far as we are concerned, mistrust towards us exists, we do not deny it but it should not paralyze us.
On the contrary, it should encourage us to always put the work back on the job.
And, after two primaries, two warm-up rounds, we will have plenty to do during the presidential campaign...
It promises to be exciting but also more than ever demanding: to inform about the projects of all the candidates, to enlighten our fellow citizens in their choices but also to warn against demagogic, populist, attractive but illusory speeches... and this from where that they are coming !
Factual journalism is essential, it is the substance of the information but it does not prevent opinion journalism. The distinction must be clear but it is the condition of a real and living democracy!
We will not cease to subject you to the question either... it is a general you and a "particular" you Mr. Prime Minister...
And first of all, don't you have one regret: not having found an alternative to the state of emergency, which has become a permanent state and which is never satisfactory for individual freedoms. We are, as you can imagine, particularly sensitive to it...
Before leaving these places you will also have great choices to make…and for example the evacuation of Notre Dame des Landes. You who are a democrat, a referendum was organized. Voters voted in favor of his removal. Are you actually going to do this?
Or was it simply a mistake to make it one of the cornerstones of this quinquennium... even though you have to manage a terrorist threat like never before, which mobilizes the forces of order...
The opportunity for us here to recall that barely two years ago our colleagues at Charlie Hebdo were struck in their flesh and through them our entire profession… we have not forgotten it.
As we do not forget the sad and bloody procession of attacks that our country has experienced since... we then did everything to inform as best we could, adapting our way of saying and explaining as the events went by.
So in the absence of being a presidential candidate - except once again an announcement on your part - we would be delighted to hear your vision of things on such fundamental subjects, especially if the winner of the primary from the left is not your candidate...
Because you had to stay behind but in the end you could not resist giving your support to Manuel Valls who is experiencing a campaign that is to say the least eventful. Support in your own way of course, without appearing to be there, but without ambiguity...
But deep down, don't you regret that François Hollande abandoned his camp in the open countryside? He himself is visibly beginning to harbor some bitterness…perhaps given the level of the current primary?
It must be said that he left behind him an exploded left that is struggling to exist against a thirty-year-old that no one saw coming and who is attracting more and more French people... But who does not have your favors...
And yet, both liberal and social, on the left even recognized Jean-Marc Ayrault, isn't Emmanuel Macron the true spiritual son, the heir wanted by François Hollande? And then, after all, you could rejoice in a wind of change in politics? But I understand that the tree you are going to plant at Matignon, a tradition in this house, has something to do with loyalty. Maybe there should be a coded message?
These are a lot of questions which in general, let's face it, usually get few answers… But 2016 taught us that in 2017 anything is possible! We are therefore counting on you to make an exception and speak to us in all honesty... If this is not the case, sorry but we will try again... it is the heart of our business and what the French expect from us...
I am therefore going to give you the floor, Mr. Prime Minister…but before that, we present to you and to your government all our sincere and republican wishes for success, in the interest of the country. In the name of the Ministerial Press Association, happy new year to all and of course Long live freedom of the press!
Benjamin SPORTOUCH
President of the Ministerial Press Association