Violence: Borne wants a return to "order", divided political groups

July 3, 2023

Elisabeth Borne wished Monday the return to “order” after several nights of violence which followed the death of the young Nahel killed by a policeman, after a meeting with all the political groups, which appeared divided in their proposals after this tragedy.

“The priority is to ensure the return of republican order, which leads us in particular to maintain the security system for the coming night,” said the Prime Minister, or 45,000 police and gendarmes.

Elisabeth Borne admitted that this crisis raised “many questions” but that “we will have the opportunity to meet again, to pursue and deepen these subjects”.

She also spoke about the pot of support for the family of the police officer who shot the young Nahel on Tuesday in Nanterre. The fact that it was started “by someone close to the extreme right” does not “contribute” to “appeasement”, she said.

“I would have liked us to have more harmony”, said at the end of this meeting the leader of the Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé, who refuses to establish “a link” between the death of young Nahel and the riots that followed and that “nothing can justify”.

The leader of the LFI deputies Mathilde Panot left the meeting after an hour, deeming it “unbearable” not to obtain “answers” from the government.

“The first measure of appeasement is justice” and “taking action”, she said, proposing to repeal a 2017 law on the use of weapons by the police.

Having also left earlier to chair a session in the Assembly, RN deputy Sébastien Chenu, who replaced Marine Le Pen, pointed to the government’s “tremendous responsibility”, calling for a “180 degree turn (?) on the security policies, justice, and the need for a moratorium on immigration”.

For LR senators, Bruno Retailleau demanded “order” and “authority”.

For him, this violence is “not a cry of distress” and the rioters “are certainly not the disinherited of the Republic (which) for years has been pouring billions” into so-called sensitive or priority neighborhoods. He asked in particular to be able to deprive their families of social benefits.

His remarks were criticized by the left. “There is no order without justice, and we mainly talked about order today”, lamented the leader of the PS deputies Boris Vallaud.

His counterpart in the Senate Patrick Kanner wished that the “strong response (…) on order, the police, the sanctions be counterbalanced as soon as possible also by prevention policies”, refusing that the “republican pact” does not ” only works on one leg, that of repression”.

Cyrielle Chatelain, for the EELV deputies, denounced a “government without proposals, without vision”.

On behalf of the PCF deputies, André Chassaigne called for a “longer term policy”, refusing the solution of “the truncheon”.

The government is stepping up consultations on this crisis, after a sixth night quieter than the previous ones.

The Head of State, who had asked Ms. Borne to receive the political groups, spoke on Monday with the Presidents of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, before receive on Tuesday the mayors of “more than 220 municipalities victims of abuses” during the riots.

During these meetings, elected officials and the population met on Monday in front of many town halls the day after a violent attack on the home of the mayor of L’Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne), Vincent Jeanbrun. “Let’s not get us down,” he said.hr