2023-05-11 20:08:15
The announcement of the resignation of Yannick Morez from his mandate as mayor of the city of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique), linked “to the lack of state support”, had the effect of a political explosion as soon as it was announced on Wednesday 10 May. The city councilor has been subjected to threats and intimidation for several months by far-right activists, who oppose the plan to move the reception center for asylum seekers (CADA) in the town near a school. His decision follows the arson attack that targeted his home in March.
For political scientist Luc Rouban, research director at the CNRS, member of the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po (Cevipof) and author of The reasons for mistrust (Presses de Sciences Po, 2022) and The Real Victory of the RN (Presses de Sciences Po, 2022), this resignation in the face of intimidation stems “of the legitimization of violence in political relations in recent years”, thriving on the feeling of growing distrust of the French towards the state.
What does the resignation of the aedile of Saint-Brevin testify to?
This affair is first and foremost an unfortunate example of the rise in power of violence against elected officials in France and its shift from verbal to physical, to which mayors are particularly exposed since they are on the front line. It is a structural phenomenon but one that has accelerated in recent years, from the crisis of “yellow vests” to opposition to pension reform and the 2022 election period. [Entre 2021 et 2022, les atteintes verbales ou physiques à l’encontre des élus locaux, notamment les maires et leurs adjoints, ont augmenté de 32 %].
The burning of his home in the middle of the night is thus the expression of the dissolution of the public-private border. We come to attack a mayor in his private space and also target his family, with the idea that we are no longer addressing only a representative of the public authority but a fellow citizen who must be put at the service of the demands of some and others and who, if he does not respect them, is threatened and may be the target of violence.
This testifies to the radicalization and legitimization of violence in political relations in recent years. In the surveys we conduct, an increasing proportion of people legitimize violence as a means of action to advance their claims. This violence is encouraged by certain political parties and speeches, and in this case, by a fringe of the extreme right.
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