2023-07-07 12:27:49
The right is sometimes reminiscent of the Tasmanian devil Taz, this cartoon character who swirls on itself in a permanent movement. The Republicans (LR) compete for ideas to respond to the urban riots which hit France after the death of Nahel. Construction of new prison places, criminal majority at 16, return of minimum sentences… LR presented Thursday July 6 its “plan to restore public order”, around twenty measures with a security tone. “The state must provide a response commensurate with the chaos we have gone through. Any lukewarmness will be perceived as weakness and can only further fuel the disorder”, launched the president of LR Éric Ciotti at the party headquarters.
On the right, we reject any link between the “social situation” in working-class neighborhoods and the scenes of violence. No question of talking about city politics or unemployment. The Republicans claim a sovereign approach to the crisis articulated around the return of “authority”. This security response has an identity tinge. Contrary to the executive, LR establishes a direct link between the troubles and immigration. “The French know who were at the heart of the riots”, assumes Éric Ciotti. Several proposals stem from this analysis, such as the reinstatement of the double penalty or the forfeiture of the nationality of binational criminals.
“Regression to ethnic origins”
This identity reading is expressed with virulence. The boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau deplored Wednesday July 5 a “regression towards the ethnic origins” of certain French perpetrators of violence. “You are going to tell me that most of the people arrested are French. But that no longer means anything today. How are they French?” Senator Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio asked Gérald Darmanin the same day during her hearing by the upper room. A thesis is sketched out: the feeling of belonging to the national community does not grip certain French citizens, at war against their own country.
The vehemence of the right is equal to its challenge. She is trying to free herself from the eternal vice formed by Macronie and the RN. Not easy. The executive posed from the beginning of the riots as the guarantor of the republican order, avoiding any complacency towards the violence. The extreme right, the first opposition force, is the natural receptacle of popular anger. 50% of French people believe that Marine Le Pen comes out stronger from the sequence, according to an Elabe poll published by BFMTV. 20% of respondents do this analysis for LR. “She does not need to say anything and puts herself in presidential stature. We are obliged to be present”, notes the deputy of the Loire Antoine Vermorel-Marques.
This “presence” is part of a dual strategy. By its firmness, the right distances itself from a macronism deemed weak on the sovereign. By her professionalism, she intends to distinguish herself from an RN with suspect skills. Éric Ciotti assured Thursday that “the legal texts” setting his measures to music were “ready”. LR has already tabled a bill to suspend family allowances for parents of absentee students, as well as those whose children have committed acts of violence.
Facing the RN, the advantage of competence
LR, or managerial radicalism. This strategy was implemented in May, when two texts on immigration were tabled. Éric Ciotti then confided to L’Express: “We are proposing a text whose legal seriousness no one can dispute. I am not sure that the RN can do the tenth of what we have done in terms of quality of work. ” In May 2021, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes – who claims economic differences with Marine Le Pen – already mentioned a “capacity to govern and a different history” to underline the difference between his party and the RN. The dam with the far right is no longer moral, but technical. And what do the accusations of collusion with this camp matter: the staff of the right sweeps them away like a dated speech.
LR is moving, but who is listening? This counter-project method offers the right media visibility and allows it to take the initiative. Its pivotal role in the Assembly must give it a driving force and not simply the power to knock down bills. The abundance of measures presented Thursday, however, confuses some elected officials.
Too many proposals stated too quickly. “We expect a political vision from a party. When we present a catalog, it’s because we don’t know how to prioritize”, regrets an LR leader. “There is a great risk in rushing to offer a series of scoops out of the drawers. We do not enter the radars of the French by doing this. Perhaps even on the contrary”, adds a frame. If you move too much, the right may look like Bip Bip. The blue bird in the cartoon moves so fast that we end up not seeing it anymore.
#Riots #bet #managerial #radicalism