After a week of rioting, France is struggling for answers. While Head of State Macron is trying to close ranks with mayors, parliament is arguing bitterly about the right measures.
It is the mayors themselves who, with their mobile phone recordings, convey the first images from the magnificent hall in the Elysée Palace to the waiting journalists outside.
Then: Macron – in his shirt and with a microphone in his hand – who assures: “You have to be careful, but I think the peak of the riots is behind us. We all want the republican order to be restored now. That is the first priority . And then I want to find a profound answer together with you.”
A response to 240 schools, kindergartens and libraries damaged, 1000 shops destroyed, dozens of buses burnt out and thousands of cars set on fire. But it is also an answer to frustration, anger and the feeling of being excluded.
“Not the same recipes forever”
Macron says: “We won’t be able to dig up the same recipes over and over again to find an appropriate answer. Even if the worst should be over – I don’t want to pretend that this is just a bracket of history. We have to find answers together, who are up to date with events.”
The nationwide massive police presence should be maintained because it acts as a deterrent, according to Macron. If this is not enough, the security forces should take an offensive approach.
The meeting is also a form of mea culpa. Because Macron had asked the mayors at the beginning of his first term to work on proposals for the development of the difficult districts. But he then let these suggestions disappear in a drawer without a word.
So now the president wants to find a long-term strategy. But first he promises a law to quickly rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. Public buildings, means of transport, but also benches, bicycle racks or surveillance cameras should be repaired quickly. The state will provide money for this.
Some mayors expressed disappointment at the meeting with Macron. It was like group therapy.
Borne wants to make parents more responsible
Meanwhile, just a kilometer from the Elysée Palace on the other side of the Seine as the crow flies, the members of the National Assembly are struggling to find short-term measures.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has announced that the parents of the rioters will be held accountable – even if the offenses committed by their children are only minor. “There will be fines and compulsory courses so that they learn to fulfill their responsibilities, which they are legally obliged to do.”
What some mayors call “bells and whistles” is getting applause from the right. And Republican Conservative Olivier Marleix would go further: “The time for apologies and impunity is over. Our penal code provides for jail terms and heavy fines for parents. If you take your 14-15 year old children on a night of rioting If you let them outside, you are violating your duty of care. That’s the law, apply it!”
outrage from the left. The debate about penalties is completely the wrong construction site. Mathilde Panot, leader of the left-wing LFI, calls on the government to deal with the question of what the police are allowed and not allowed to do.
She says: “Only a political response can bring peace to the country. You can’t decree calm. Face the situation! Will you reverse the law that allows people to be killed in traffic stops? Will you set up a truth commission to investigate cases of police violence transparently?”
passionate discussions
It’s high for hours in the afternoon. Mikael Taverne of the extreme right-wing Rassemblement National (RN) is calling for the foreign rioters to be expelled.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin reacted passionately: “90 percent of those arrested are French and not foreigners. This is quite simply about young criminals and not about foreigners. Here in this room, many – like me – come from families who have immigrated. And we love them our country. And we don’t want hatred of police officers, nor hatred of foreigners. We want love for the republic!”
In a heated mood, Taverne vom RN grabs the microphone again and shouts: “The only one who can provide an answer to the problem of security in this country is Marine Le Pen! What is really needed in this country is a change of government !”
Even a week after Nahel’s death from a police officer’s shot, France still hasn’t come to rest. The riots subside, but the political turmoil in Parliament is in full swing.