2023-06-29 18:29:32
Two days after the death of young Nahel, 17, in Nanterre, the government upsets its agenda. Elisabeth Borne and several ministers deployed on the ground this Thursday to visit cities affected by urban violence. Faced with the many public buildings “burned or attacked” and the 170 police officers and gendarmes injured last night, Emmanuel Macron had convened a meeting of the interministerial crisis unit in the morning. The Head of State then denounced “scenes of violence […] unjustifiable” against “the institutions and the Republic”. Under pressure from the right, the executive intends to show that it has control over this perilous subject.
The executive wants to avoid the 2005 crisis
Several trips by ministers, deemed “non-priority”, have therefore been postponed, to better illustrate the fact that the executive was fully focused on this task. All day, the government called for appeasement, like Elisabeth Borne. “Let justice do its job”, reacted in particular the Prime Minister on a visit to Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val-d’Oise), while the police officer who fired the shot was indicted for intentional homicide and placed in pre-trial detention. “Anger is always a bad advisor. Despite the terrible drama, the violence is unjustifiable. Let’s all be responsible, we must quickly and urgently find a return to calm, ”hopes Erwan Balanant, MoDem deputy for Finistère.
Because with this explosive subject, the macronists know that they have a lot to lose. After months of social protest and outbursts during protests against pension reform, the government does not want to plunge into a new crisis. Especially since on the eve of the summer holidays, the riots of 2005 are on everyone’s mind. “I am very worried because there is a lot of misunderstanding from some residents vis-à-vis the police. We need a de-escalation to avoid the 2005 crisis. Because if it degenerates, it can end badly…”, sighs a deputy of the majority.
To avoid another night of tension in the coming hours, Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, announced the fourfold increase in the police forces mobilized, i.e. 40,000 police and gendarmes, including 5,000 in Paris and the near suburbs. . “It is considerable, but essential. Violence against our institutions is not acceptable, they are not the right answer to bring to the drama of Nanterre. The State’s response must be extremely firm,” underlines Mathieu Lefèvre, Renaissance MP for Val-de-Marne, whose territory has been affected by incidents.
The right calls for a state of emergency
From a political point of view also, the executive is on a wire. While some hoped for an agreement with the right to govern, the Nanterre affair seems to have strained relations. The Republicans, as well as Eric Zemmour, have called for the punctual triggering of the state of emergency in the neighborhoods where the violence has taken place. “In an exceptional situation, exceptional measure, defends Eric Pauget, LR deputy for the Alpes-Maritimes. Town halls, prisons, schools and police stations are attacked, that is to say the foundations of our Republic. This crisis reveals that the State has too often been weak on certain plots of French territory. And that the sovereign is the weak point of Macronie ”.
The state of emergency has for the moment been ruled out by the government. “The right shows the muscles to rebuild its health. But the drama of Nanterre is painful enough to avoid political recoveries ”, plague an elected Renaissance. Is the measure therefore completely buried, when new tensions erupted this Thursday evening in Nanterre, at the arrival of the “white march” in tribute to Nahel? “There is no doubt that all means will be implemented to restore order,” replies Mathieu Lefèvre. It is once again by embodying “order” that Emmanuel Macron hopes to get out of the crisis.
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