The president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), David Lisnard, called on Thursday for a “precise study of the phenomenon of attacks on elected officials”, the day after the announcement of the resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brevin. The decision of the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins Yannick Morez (DVD), threatened because of a project to transfer a reception center for asylum seekers (Cada), provoked a wave of indignation policies.
Asked by AFP, David Lisnard (LR) denounced “extremely serious” facts and wanted “true transparency on the phenomena of violence against elected officials”. “Like what has been put in place by the Ministry of the Interior each year with the national study on violent deaths within the couple, the AMF calls for a precise study of the phenomenon of violence against elected officials, with typology of attacks, category of elected officials, geographical distribution of attacks, criminal response, because you really have to objectify things, ”he said.
More severe penal treatment
The association keeps its own count of physical and verbal attacks on elected officials through an observatory, but based solely on the testimonies of the elected officials themselves. “We must look at why the perpetrators of pressure, intimidation and violence that go so far as to set fire to a home, endangering the life of an elected official and his family, are not subject to more severe”, also wondered Mr. Lisnard.
Regarding the “lack of state support” denounced by Yannick Morez, he considered that “efforts” are being made by the government, which is showing “good will”, without commenting on the particular case of Saint- Brevin. “There was a circular from the Minister of Justice asking the prosecutors to investigate, but that should be obvious. On the one hand, there are directives given which go in the right direction, but on the other hand, we see the powerlessness of the State”, he underlined, recalling that the number of resigning mayors had doubled during the previous mandate.
The violence suffered is above all acts of incivility
Echoing the words of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, for whom the “rise of extremism” is valid “on both sides” of the political spectrum, the president of the AMF denounced “violence from the far right as well as from the extreme LEFT “. However, he recalled that “99% of the violence suffered by mayors on a daily basis is acts of incivility”, with violence from individuals “because we have closed an establishment which produces nuisances or for waste deposited illegally”.