Nicolas Hulot, Minister of Energy Transition, announced on France Inter this Tuesday morning, his resignation from the government.
Thunderclap in the government. The Minister of Energy Transition, Nicolas Hulot, announced on France Inter, Tuesday 28th August, that he has resigned from his ministry.
Nicolas Hulot : “Je prends la décision de quitter le gouvernement” #le79inter cc @leasalame @ndemorand pic.twitter.com/MhRq7zEktM
— France Inter (@franceinter) 28 August 2018
“For the first time, I’m going to make the toughest decision of my life. I do not want to lie to me anymore. I do not want to give the illusion that my presence in government means that we are up to the challenge. So I take the decision to leave the government. ”
“I find myself every day resigning myself”
“We take small steps, and France does much more than other countries, but are small steps are enough … the answer, it is no,” he said.
A decision that seemed inevitable: almost immediately after his appointment, environmentalists had criticised the presence of Nicolas Hulot to the government given the government’s policy, particularly with regard to nuclear power.
“I am surprised every day to resign myself, to accommodate the small steps,” added the former presenter of “Ushuaia”, hoping that his resignation could cause a “start”.
Nicolas Hulot : “Si j’avais prévenu Edouard Philippe et Emmanuel Macron de ma démission, ils m’en auraient peut-être dissuadé” #le79inter pic.twitter.com/ENHulGWsZV
— France Inter (@franceinter) 28 August 2018
“No power”
“I know that only I will not succeed. (…) I have a little influence, I have no power, “he said, his throat knotted.
Nicolas Hulot said he had not warned in advance neither the president nor the prime minister of this decision, for fear that they convince him to stay in government.
“It’s a decision of honesty and responsibility,” he said.
“During these 14 months, the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic have been extremely affectionate, loyal and loyal to me,” said the minister, but despite this, the government has has not been able to prioritise environmental issues, he said, believing that he could only get “small steps”.
Nicolas Hulot : “C’est une décision que j’ai prise tout seul, personne n’était au courant, y compris ma propre épouse” #le79inter pic.twitter.com/2gqVprlSmC
— France Inter (@franceinter) 28 August 2018
Appointed for the first time minister in May 2017, after giving up a candidacy for the presidential election a year earlier, Nicolas Hulot had to swallow many decisions contrary to his beliefs, beyond some symbolic victories like the abandonment of the project. airport of Notre-Dame-des-Landes.
In particular, it had to endorse the postponement of the goal of reducing the share of nuclear power in electricity production to 50% in 2025, or the provisional entry into force of the EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement (CETA). . And Monday, the Elysee had announced that the price of the hunting license would be reduced by two, from 400 to 200 euros per year.
“Like a vote of no confidence against Macron”
Among the first reactions of politicians, Republican President (LR) Laurent Wauquiez said he “understands that he feels betrayed like today a lot of French by strong promises that had been made, and the feeling to arrival that it is not very held.
For the leader of the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon, this departure sounds “like a vote of censure against Macron”, and “the macronie begins its decomposition, while Benoît Hamon sees” a call to awaken global consciences to engage the transformation of our development model “.
La démission de Nicolas #Hulot fonctionne comme un vote de censure contre Macron. Il confirme le diagnostic de mon discours de samedi. La macronie commence sa décomposition.
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) 28 August 2018
“He refuses to serve as a surety and he is right”
In ecologists EELV, Yannick Jadot said that “the departure of Nicolas Hulot is the consequence of the lack of ecological policy of this government.”
“Nicolas Hulot tried to convince but was not heard, he refuses to serve as a surety and he is right,” he said.
La voix de Macron sur l’écologie était EDF et Stéphane Travert, le départ de Nicolas Hulot est la conséquence de l’absence de politique écologique de ce gouvernement. Nicolas Hulot essayait de convaincre mais n’était pas entendu, il refuse de servir de caution et il a raison. pic.twitter.com/AaBlK5A75C
— Yannick Jadot (@yjadot) 28 August 2018
