2024-07-14 14:43:12
Author: Leila Tariverdieva
In early January of this year, the French Interior Ministry happily reported that vandals burned 10 percent fewer cars on New Year’s Eve than the previous year. “Only” 745. It turns out that the department can’t count, because on the night of January 1, 2023, hooligans burned 690 cars. That is, the situation has worsened this year. But the French were still happy, because things have been worse.
Riots in Paris after elections – VIDEO
Setting fire to cars parked on the streets has become a kind of sport in France. Every year, the French police proudly report positive changes. Thus, on January 1, 2021, having reported the destruction of 861 cars, the Ministry of Internal Affairs proudly added that this was an excellent result, since a year ago 1,457 arsons were registered (!). And the French were really happy. What else could they do if the police were unable to protect their property? 1,457 was a record in the entire history of this “wonderful” tradition, testifying to the triumph of democracy and the primacy of human rights. It began in 1988 in Strasbourg, when the mayor’s office banned young people from using firecrackers after they hit cars a couple of times and set them on fire. But the youth, brought up in the spirit of freedom and democracy, proudly stood up for their right to destroy other people’s property, and since then the now deliberate arson of vehicles has become a New Year’s tradition, as touching as setting fire to a Yule log. Well, of course, freedom-loving France does not tolerate any kind of prohibitions. Let them not leave their cars on the street, if they don’t like it…
I remembered this in connection with what is happening on the streets of French cities today. After the results of the parliamentary elections were announced, riots began in the country. And it would be understandable if they were organized by the losers. No, the supporters of the victorious left front came out to riot. And, really, what kind of holiday would it be without outrages?
France is heading towards political instability – Bloomberg
According to French media, mass riots began in Paris and other major cities on the night of July 8. Activists began smashing shops and cafes, destroying bus stops, and throwing stones and firecrackers at police officers. Tear gas and other special means were used to disperse the outrageous “winners”. It all began as a peaceful protest on the Place de la Republique, but then it turned into a pogrom. Victory-celebrators began smashing shop windows and bus stops, setting trash cans and bicycles on fire, and throwing Molotov cocktails at the police. According to French media, hundreds of masked protesters ran around the city, shot fireworks at gendarmes, and began building barricades and setting fires on some streets. In response, the police blocked off a number of streets and attacked demonstrators with tear gas canisters.
It is noteworthy that on the eve of the second round of elections, shop owners began preparing for the upcoming “celebrations”. In this country, they have become so accustomed to pogroms and the police’s inability to prevent them that they have decided not to count on the forces of law and order. Many traders, having learned from bitter experience, boarded up their doors and shop windows or covered them with metal sheets the night before. In a word, they were preparing for the inevitable. Instead of trying to prevent pogroms, the Paris police prefecture warned entrepreneurs that there was a real danger of violence on the day the election results were announced.
And this is not the end. It seems that political destabilization will continue, because neither the right nor Macron’s supporters wanted to enter into a coalition with the left, and the victorious New Popular Front does not have an absolute majority to govern the country. At the same time, neither side intends to simply give in. The victory of the left was a shock to everyone. Macron started early elections in order to trample the right and strengthen his position, and did not expect that the people would choose the left front. The French rejected both the neo-fascists and Macron. Someone had to be chosen.
Forming one’s own parliament and government is an internal matter for the state. And, let’s be fair, France does have rich republican traditions. The question here is more of a moral nature – why is French society always ready to smash and destroy, to turn its own cities into garbage dumps and ashes. Something is probably wrong with the government’s policy if this happens with alarming regularity.
Macron has two months to save the Olympics – ANALYTICS from Leila Tariverdieva
Shortly before the pandemic, the “yellow vests” movement swept across the country like a whirlwind. Last year was marked by prolonged unrest that grew out of protests against pension reform. This year began with a “manure” farmers’ riot that lasted almost until the summer. And now it’s time to deal with the consequences of Macron’s thoughtless decision to dissolve parliament. Experts still cannot explain this step by the French president with complete certainty. Why? Why was it necessary to stir up passions, especially on the eve of the Olympic Games? In just two weeks, the Olympic flame is to be lit in Paris, and bicycles are being burned and shop windows are being smashed on the streets of the capital. Olympic France already has enough security problems. Ultra-liberal principles do not allow unrest to be prevented not because the authorities do not want to do so, but because the situation has long since gotten out of control, when liberalism has grown into permissiveness. Shop owners should not board up their windows in anticipation of pogroms, they pay taxes that support law enforcement agencies, which are supposed to protect law and order. But here a certain crisis arises, because in a liberal society a vandal also seems to have the right to smash bus stops and set fire to bicycles out of a sense of protest or joy. If the left, having gained a majority (even if not a critical one), celebrates its victory in this way, it is not hard to imagine what would await Paris in the event of its defeat.
Yes, everyone has the right to protest, but in countries where ultra-liberalism has triumphed, everyone seems to have the right to unlimited actions within the framework of their protest. The destruction that occurs during riots has become a characteristic feature of the French rebellion. And this happens with such frequency that suspicions arise that the authorities benefit from it for some reason.
According to the general opinion of French experts, Macron did not expect the victory of the left. He was focused on countering the right, and the French decided in their own way. Thanks to his short-sightedness and self-confidence, the country found itself in a difficult situation on the eve of the Olympic Games. It is clear that the Olympics are the last thing that interests French society and the authorities now, and if France disgraces itself, no one will be particularly upset. Including Emmanuel Macron.