François Fillon

A look at the news - Nicolas Jutzet

Emmanuel Macron's lucky star has not yet been extinguished. From the launch of his movement, some saw him as a shooting star, a media bubble destined to burst. So far, these prophets of doom have been proven wrong, as they have been far too busy preserving their privileges to pay much attention to what is being felt on the ground. A need for change. Emmanuel Macron had everything going for him: packed meeting rooms with an overexcited atmosphere, the relative indulgence of a press under the spell of the brilliant young man from Amiens, and a remarkable popular enthusiasm with meetings of marchers all over France.

The machine has seized up somewhat in recent days, particularly following his trip to Algeria. He was supposed to confirm his «presidential» stature, but he revived some old demons of French history, with which a fringe of the population has a complicated relationship, to say the least. Emmanuel Macron was right about the facts - colonization is a crime against humanity - but politically, it's a mistake to say so, especially now. He runs the risk of having his remarks taken out of context; no one has noticed that he also recalled the positive consequences of colonization. It also means extending a helping hand to a drowning Fillon. This incursion is all the more damaging in that it contradicts one of the habits that most convinced me in the message from the former Minister of the Economy, Industry and the Digital Economy: you don't rally around whistles and jeers, by stigmatizing. And yet, by putting the subject back on the table, he has reopened the wounds of many people: the harkis, the pieds noirs, the French of Algerian origin, the binationals.