Emmanuel Macron has not left the French tradition on the subject of his country’s colonial past.
Algerians and French, will they write a new page in history from next Thursday? Very smart, whoever answers this question. The Algerian-French equation has many variables and it is unknown that even an algorithm cannot predict its evolution, even in the short term. From Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to Emmanuel Macron, there have been so many bursts of enthusiasm, after being disappointed, that we automatically reserve the right to doubt. Before Macron, Algeria received the highly optimistic Jaques Chirac who changed the memory file, before the ultras of French Algeria continued to block his passage with their law on colonization benefits. His successor, Nicolas Sarkozy brought the point home and installed relations between the two countries in a gray area where no one understood what the other wanted. It must be said that the intransigence of Algiers prevents French officials from “entertaining” History, so that the discourse of Algiers in memory imposes itself as an obligatory channel that makes people uncomfortable. the extreme right.
President Hollande, who tried to be frank with his Algerian counterpart on important subjects such as the massacres on May 8, 1945 and on October 17, 1961, attacked the revisionist wall of his own camp without following him, pushing him . in the “little phrase” that already says a lot about his refusal to go to the end of the logic of memory.
Emmanuel Macron has not left the French tradition on the subject of his country’s colonial past. Blowing hot and cold, he tried a subtle political exercise on the issue, but it backfired, bringing the relationship between the two countries back to square one. But the same Macron, who knows the weight of history and is well aware of the extraordinary dividends that his country can get from a sincere partnership with Algeria, may want to mark his second that five-year term by taking a real position on colonization which, as he has already stated, is a crime against humanity. In this case, one can ask the question if public opinion in both countries will witness a small historical miracle that will make Emmanuel Macron say what public opinion wants to know about reality of the relationship between the two countries. Let us say it clearly, no sane person has an interest in two countries that look at each other like ground dogs, except those who suffer from the fear of a bloody past that they seek to glorify in order to escape the punishment of history.
Despite a tortuous journey regarding his relations with Algeria, one might think that Emmanuel Macron wants to give new meaning to Algerian-French relations. He knows that Algeria should not expect an economic “boom”. it is not obviously necessary. There is no shortage of partners, even in the heart of the European Union. It is said that between his last visit to Algeria and the one he planned for this Thursday, a lot of water flowed under the bridge. Obviously we are not talking about trade in Algiers. It will be a question of building a complete relationship where each country can find its account. In the new report proposed by Algeria in France, the latter will gain economic power and also in terms of the image of Africa. Emmanuel Macron knows that the solution is not in Algiers, but in Paris. He must first defeat the hate lobbies that are holding the entire French people hostage.