2024-02-07 05:20:10
Insults, threats, degradation and sometimes even physical attacks: the deputies listed in the hemicycle, Tuesday February 6, the range of violence suffered by local elected officials, before examining and voting on a battery of measures set out in a proposal for law already adopted at first reading by the Senate
They mentioned the recent attack on a deputy mayor in Seine-Maritime, for a parking space. And recalled the arson attack on the home of the mayor of Saint-Brévin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique) and the car ramming attack on the home of the mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne) , who left their mark last year.
The senatorial text does not aim to make elected officials “privileged” but to better protect them, pleaded its Renaissance rapporteur to the Assembly, Violette Spillebout. In committee, the member from the North confided that she herself had been confronted “the threat of distributing pornographic photos” during the last municipal campaign in Lille.
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Extension of limitation periods
The examination of the bill must continue on Wednesday, but the deputies already voted on Tuesday, by a large majority, one of its flagship measures: the alignment of the sanctions provided for, in the event of violence against local elected officials, with those which target holders of public authority such as the police.
The only dissonant voices, France Insoumise (LFI) deplored a “criminal overbidding”the deputy Sébastien Rome judging that it was necessary above all “address the causes” of violence linked to a “democratic malaise”. LFI, on the other hand, supported the creation of a community service penalty in the event of public insults against persons holding public authority, including local elected officials, a measure extended by the deputies to insults and defamation public. An aggravating circumstance has also been provided for cases of harassment, particularly online, when the victim holds an elective mandate.
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A measure voted on Tuesday was particularly debated: the extension from three months to one year of the limitation periods in cases of insults and public defamation, in cases where they target an elected official or a candidate for an elective mandate. These offenses are provided for in the 1881 law on freedom of the press, and elected officials from the majority as well as from the opposition opposed without success, despite the support of the government, a modification of the“delicate balance” of this emblematic text.
The Assembly also gave the green light to the creation of an aggravating circumstance when attacks on the private life of a candidate for local office are committed during an electoral campaign.
Among the other measures voted on: the automatic granting of “functional protection” to mayors and municipal elected officials with an executive mandate, when they are victims of attacks or insults. Faced with the impossibility for parliamentarians to create public expenditure, Violette Spillebout appealed to the government to be able to subsequently extend this coverage of protection and assistance measures to all local elected officials.
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“Create a real shock of attractiveness”
Beyond these security measures, deputies from all benches called for a broader reform of the status of local elected officials, to deal with the vocations crisis which is weighing down local democracy. Ms. Spillebout said she had tabled a bill with the communist deputy for Seine-Maritime Sébastien Jumel, hoping that it could be examined at the end of March in the Assembly, during a slot dedicated to transpartisan texts.
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Their text aims to “create a real shock of attractiveness”. It is inspired by a report that the two elected officials recently co-wrote, and on which the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, said he wanted to rely on “establish a real status for local elected officials”.
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In particular, they propose the establishment of“a citizen commitment allowance” accessible to all municipal councilors, the extension of the maximum duration of training leave for local elected officials or the registration of elected officials who have retained paid employment on the list of protected employees, such as union delegates.
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