President Emmanuel Macron has moved to seize control of France’s spiraling social crisis, convening the nation’s intelligence services at the Élysée on Thursday morning — just hours before Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was due to meet with party leaders at Matignon. The dual-track response underscores a government under mounting pressure after last weekend’s scenes of violence and looting, which have shaken the country and drawn criticism from within Macron’s own camp.
The president’s morning meeting with intelligence chiefs was intended to produce “a detailed account of everything that happened” on October 17, as Macron himself explained on Wednesday. His intervention comes as the government accuses the intelligence services of failing to anticipate the scale of the mobilization. According to several media reports, Macron is expected to speak publicly following the talks — a move that risks overshadowing his prime minister on a day of high-stakes political meetings.
Lecornu Faces Party Leaders and Mayors
Lecornu, for his part, was scheduled to receive party leaders and their presidential candidates in the early afternoon. The meeting is being closely watched after days of tension in which the prime minister demanded that political forces “choose between violence and the Republic,” singling out La France Insoumise for allegedly inflaming the unrest — a charge the movement denies, demanding an apology instead.
In his letter inviting the parties to Matignon, Lecornu — visibly buffeted by a crisis he failed to see coming — also promised “transparency” regarding “the unfolding” of the October 17 events, including the “difficulties encountered,” so that “everyone can have access to the same information.”
Beyond the intelligence failures that the prime minister has already acknowledged before parliament this week, and ahead of several planned commissions of inquiry, questions remain over the strategy for maintaining public order and the priorities assigned to police and gendarmerie units. The Defender of Rights (DDD) has received 46 complaints since the start of the student movement, “more than a dozen” of which concern events dating from last weekend.
Mayors of Major Cities to Be Received
Another key meeting for the prime minister on Thursday is with the mayors of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille — cities particularly affected by the violence — in an attempt to reassure them ahead of the October 24 mobilization. Matignon has not yet specified whether Lecornu intends to speak after either of these exchanges.
The prime minister is more weakened than ever by a crisis whose first stirrings date back more than a month. Unable to find the right tempo and the responses needed to stem the social movement at its various stages, he now finds himself forced to chase events. In this context, it is hardly surprising to see Macron join him on the front line.
