Emmanuel Macron has caused a furor after saying that his government’s vaccination strategy is to “piss off” people who have not had coronavirus attacks by continuing to make daily life increasingly difficult.
“This is not about pissing off the French people,” the president said in an interview with the readers of the newspaper Le Parisien on Tuesday. “But as for the unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. And we will continue to do this, until the end. This is the strategy. “
Macron’s comments came as the French parliament debated new legislation that, if passed, will mean that only those fully vaccinated, and not those with a negative Covid test, will qualify for the country’s health pass starting next month. .
The pass, introduced this summer, is mandatory in France to access closed public places such as cafes, restaurants, cinemas, museums, concert halls and sports centers, as well as to board long-distance trains and planes.
“In a democracy, the worst enemies are lies and stupidity,” Macron said. “We are putting pressure on the unvaccinated by limiting, as far as possible, their access to social life activities.”
France has vaccinated nearly 90% of its population who are eligible, Macron said, and it was “only a very small minority that resisted. How do we reduce that minority? We narrow it down, sorry for the expression, pissing you off even more. “
The president, who said he wanted to run for a second term in the April presidential elections but would not make his decision public until “the health situation allows it,” added that “he will not go to jail.” [the unvaccinated], or vaccinate them by force. “
So, he said, “we have to tell you: as of January 15, you will no longer be able to go to the restaurant. You will no longer be able to go for coffee, you will no longer be able to go to the theater. You won’t be able to go to the movies anymore ”.
Macron added: “When my freedoms threaten those of others, I become irresponsible. Someone irresponsible is not a citizen ”.
Macron’s political opponents have accused the president, who in the early stages of his tenure faced accusations of arrogance, lack of tact and being out of touch with parts of the French population, of excessive language.
“No health emergency justifies such words,” said Bruno Retailleau, head of the right-wing Republicans in the Senate. “Emmanuel Macron says that he has learned to love the French, but it seems that he especially likes to despise them.”
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, said a president “should not say such things,” adding that the language was “not worthy of the office” and that Macron was “turning the unvaccinated into second-class citizens. class”. “
Others also criticized the proposed law. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left party France Insoumise, called Macron’s language “appalling”, adding: “It is clear that passing the vaccine is a collective punishment against individual freedoms.”
Analysts said that while the language was crude and could provoke an extreme, possibly violent backlash from anti-vaccines, the president’s comments appeared to reflect careful political calculation.
Polls show that a large majority of French voters are increasingly frustrated with the pandemic and support passing the vaccine as an effective means to end it, they said, and of those who oppose it, very few are likely. vote for Macron.
www.theguardian.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism