The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, reacted strongly Monday evening in the middle of the Molières ceremony, after being questioned by two artists on stage concerning the pension reform.
Their intervention occurred a few hours after a demonstration in front of the Théâtre de Paris, where the ceremony was taking place. “The actors are not dogs, said (the French actor) Gérard Philipe, to denounce the precariousness in our careers”, affirmed the actress Toufan Manoutcheri. “All alone, in his good ultraliberal logic, from the top of his ivory tower, he decided to postpone the retirement age to 64,” she added, referring to President Emmanuel Macron. .
The two artists then addressed the minister present in the room: “When are you going to decide to come out of your silence? Since January 13, you have not answered the questions posed by our unions on the consequences of this reform for our intermittent workers. They then left the stage by launching “Long live the casseroles!”. A few seconds later, something extremely rare in a ceremony of this kind, Rima Abdul Malak stood up and took a microphone to defend her record. “Usually, the role of the minister is to sit and say nothing. But, there, it is not possible”, she said. “This sentence by Gérard Philipe dates from 1957. There was not even a Ministry of Culture at the time (created two years later, editor’s note)”, she added.
“Today, there is a Ministry of Culture which defends loud and clear the French cultural exception, which defends the system of intermittence which is a source of pride for our country. You have a ministry which provided massive aid during the (health) crisis to support you all”, hammered the minister. “You have a minister at the head of this ministry who released a historic budget (…) for inflation and the energy bill. I have released exceptional aid to help the most fragile structures, ”she continued.
She also accused the unions of having decided to cancel two meetings with her themselves, including one scheduled for April 27. “There is still time to change your mind, my door is open,” she concluded. Both the two artists and the minister were applauded by the audience.
