A majority of French people say they are "dissatisfied" with François Hollande's performance. A very mediocre result, which shows the extent of the crisis of political confidence in France.
For the first time, a presidential election has not been followed by a state of grace, and the new President is already confronted after 100 days with a mixed opinion of him. We can always discuss and debate whether he is at this or that level, whether it is justified or not, but in reality that is not the issue. The question is not "personal". What we are experiencing is a profound political crisis, a crisis of political confidence, which is no longer one of distrust or criticism but of great scepticism, a difficulty in believing, in being convinced of the impact of political action, of its ability to have an effect on things, and above all on my daily life as a citizen, consumer, employee, entrepreneur, civil servant, pensioner, etc. We are in the midst of a crisis of political confidence.
Remember the summer of 2012 and the attempt to control the price of petrol? The government lost money and credibility trying, alone in the world, to contain the price of a globalised good ... without touching the three quarters of the tax component of the price over which it has control. This unfortunate episode is merely the chronicle of a foretold impotence, given that no one was fooled from the first intentions expressed on the petrol price issue. The other recurring episode concerns, of course, the negative trend in unemployment figures, commented on each month in a way that is certainly realistic and combative, but also fatalistic and incantatory ("the curve will reverse" ... yes, necessarily, sooner or later, and probably late in fact).
These latest episodes are only the last carriage in a long train of worries and disillusionment. The French can clearly see how Europe is bogged down in the euro crisis and its succession of decisive last chance summits that only herald the next ones; a debt-ridden Greece whose bankruptcy has become as permanent as a chronic illness; the urgency of environmental issues and their series of sterile world conferences; the chronic over-indebtedness of states trapped in their addiction to public spending; etc.
These issues are increasingly exposed, covered by the media and even staged, but never come to a head. It is therefore not a 'personal' matter, but one that affects the credibility of political action. Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Barack Obama in the United States both embodied in 2007 and 2008 a new breath, a new hope, a political energy that seemed to resist nothing. Even if one must honestly give credit to certain aspects of their political action, the fact remains that 'even they' did not succeed in countering the situation. The result in France was a 2012 presidential election that was more about rejection than about a project, with no real enthusiasm, no real fervour, even when the results were announced after what was nevertheless a real political alternation.
Faced with a new government elected without much conviction, the opposition is lacklustre. The UMP is certainly looking for a leader, but that's the tree that hides the forest. The real challenge for the UMP is to rediscover a project and make itself heard so that it can provide solutions to issues that it has not fully resolved in recent years. Faced with this political crisis, this political depression, all the players are united and concerned.
As a result, the new political power now has all the power. All the power, but few cards. It is desperately looking for the green light card or the mile marker card to get rid of the series of obstacles that the ugly situation has put in its way, which hinders its credibility, its room for manoeuvre, its confidence and which inexorably nails it to its square. However, he will not be able to pass up his turn for 5 years, nor will he be able to wait for the luck of a good pick ... "ah that's it, the 2% growth card, I'm rolling"!
In the short term, we must of course wish, hope and force this boost from providence, which will no longer come from the state. But it is undoubtedly necessary, at the same time as explaining the current difficulties, to look to the future and build viable alternatives. For example, we need to talk about profound energy and technological change rather than an artificial and ephemeral drop in the price of petrol.