“What or who is Laurent Wauquiez afraid of? “Informed Tuesday” late in the evening “that the next Plenary Assembly of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region would be held behind closed doors, the socialist group issued a press release to denounce this decision. “A first”, according to them.
On Wednesday morning, the executive confirmed that the public will not be allowed to attend the debates, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, in order to avoid the “intrusion of extremist environmental activists”. “The region was the recipient on Tuesday of an alert from the State services which very precisely evoked the serious threats of intrusion on the part of extremist ecologists during the plenary assembly organized on December 15 and 16, he told AFP. These activists aim to disrupt the holding of the debates of the assembly”.
On the other hand, he specifies, “the session will be held in the presence of elected officials, employees, agents of the region and the press in a completely normal way and will be broadcast online”.
A “surprising to say the least” approach
However, the socialist group chaired by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem remains skeptical of these arguments, recalling that an “exceptional” conference of Presidents was nevertheless held on Monday afternoon 12, “without it being reported , at any time, such threats”. Nor after. “The executive’s approach is surprising to say the least,” he said.
On October 20 and 21, a few days after the revelation of the “sumptuous dinners” organized by the president LR of the region Laurent Wauquiez at the expense of taxpayers, the plenary assembly took place by videoconference. The executive then mentioned the rise in fuel prices and the repeated strikes in transport to justify this decision, perceived by the opposition as “an attempt to silence criticism”.
“Since the revelation of the “summit dinners” affair, the Plenary Assembly of the Regional Council will never have been held under “normal” conditions”, further deplores the socialist group, adding that it would oppose a closed session .