Angry residents of a neighborhood in Mayotte, an area that was hit by Cyclone Chido and is French territory, provoked President Emmanuel Macron, who responded that they would be in “bigger shit” without France, while visiting the Ocean archipelago Indian.
Almost a week after the storm, a lack of drinking water still affects France’s poorest overseas territory.
“Seven days and you can’t give water to the population!” shouted a man at Macron.
The president responded: “Don’t pit people against each other. If you pit people against each other, we’re screwed.”
“You are happy to be in France. If it weren’t for France, you would be in a bigger mess, 10 thousand times more, there is no place in the Indian Ocean where people receive more help”, he claimed.
In the past, Macron has had problems with off-the-cuff comments in public that he said were intended to “tell it like it is” but that often came across as insensitive or condescending to many French people.
The speeches also contributed to the sharp drop in his popularity throughout his seven years as head of state.
Some residents of the Tsingoni neighborhood greeted Macron more positively this Friday, thanking him for visiting them. A 70-year-old woman offered a blessing.
French parliamentarians echo Macron’s speech
In France, opposition lawmakers attacked Macron’s comments.
“I don’t think the president is exactly finding the right words of comfort for our compatriots from Mayotte, who, with this kind of expression, always have the feeling of being treated differently,” highlighted Sebastien Chenu, a parliamentarian from National Rally ( RN), far-right.
Far-left parliamentarian Eric Coquerel said Macron’s speech was “completely undignified”.
Asked about the case in an interview this Friday, Macron claimed that some of the people in the crowd were RN political activists and that he wanted to combat the opposition narrative that France was neglecting Mayotte.
“I hear this narrative, which is feeding the National Rally and some of the people who insulted us yesterday, that ‘France is doing nothing’,” Macron told MayotteLa1ere.
“The cyclone was not decided by the government. France is doing a lot. We need to be more efficient, but divisive and demagogic speeches will not help”, he added.
Destruction and deaths in Mayotte
Authorities in Mayotte confirmed 35 deaths caused by Chido, but some pointed out that thousands of people may have died.
Some of the islands’ worst-affected neighborhoods, hillside slums made up of rickety huts housing undocumented immigrants, have not yet been reached by rescue teams.
Macron, who extended his visit to Mayotte to spend more time examining the damage caused by the worst storm to hit the territory in 90 years, responded that authorities were increasing distributions.
“I understand your impatience. You can count on me”, he highlighted.
The French state spends around 1.6 billion euros a year in Mayotte, or around 8% of the budget for overseas territories and 4,900 euros per inhabitant, compared with 7,200 euros for people on Reunion Island or 8,500 euros for people in Guadeloupe, according to official 2023 Budget documents.
This content was originally published in Macron discusses with residents of Mayotte during a visit to the area after the cyclone on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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