Charles de Gaulle, Raymond Aron, Pierre Mendès-France: The names of great men were plenty in Bruno Roger-Petit's mouth, on the now-famous day of Sunday, June 9. After the triumph of the far right in the European elections (37% on aggregate) and the paltry score of the governing coalition (14.6%), "BRP," as he is known, and fellow presidential adviser Jonathan Guémas, had summoned the press to a phone briefing late in the evening to explain Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve the Assemblée Nationale and call early elections to be held on June 30 and July 7.

Guémas, the special adviser in charge of communications and strategy, deciphered the inner workings of this political poker game, with, at his side, Roger-Petit, who in theory is only an adviser on historical issues. But in theory only. The duo skillfully repeated the prepared talking points: "Democratic breathing space," "audacity," "a moment of clarification. In the past few months, BRP and Guémas have been the most visible pistoleros at the Elysée. And on that Sunday evening, the pair put together a narrative that was much simpler and smoother than the reality: That afternoon, the possibility of a dissolution, which they had been helping to prepare in secret for several weeks, had still not been approved. Macron was still hoping his coalition would exceed 20% and to wait until the autumn to play this card.

Roger-Petit exhumed some old quotes to put the move into perspective with some historical gravity. "[Former prime minister] Pierre Mendès-France used to say: 'In a democracy, you have to convince.' I often quote him, and I'm going to do it again tonight," he began. Next came the intellectual Raymond Aron and his "famous formula – 'history is tragic.'" In response to a journalist's question, he summoned Charles de Gaulle: "As de Gaulle used to say, it's circumstances that dictate decisions. To reason in a fixed way is to play petty politics." On this occasion, the adviser on historical issues did not quote one of his personal favorites, François Mitterrand. It was probably not the right time to bring up the former Socialist president, who left the memory of engaging in a dangerous tango with Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right Front National party to keep himself in power. Macron himself was being accused, that very night, of playing with the peril of the far right to reawaken the "republican front" against it.

Quickly sidelined

Never has BRP and his gang looked so powerful as on June 9. The decision to dissolve the Assemblée was kept secret until the last moment by a small group of a dozen people. Even Prime Minister Gabriel Attal only learned about it at the last moment. Roger-Petit took pride in implying that the dissolution was his own decision. As the hours passed, he polished the narrative of a decision owing much to his small team. Behind the scenes, he said, his friend Clément Léonarduzzi was involved. Macron's former special adviser said otherwise: "I am far away," he claimed.

You have 82.06% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.