Could Emmanuel Macron react differently? Probably not. Faced with scenes of rampage on a rare scale that occurred on the sidelines of the October 17 demonstrations against the high cost of living, which stunned public opinion and went around the world, the President of the Republic, guarantor of the unity of the country, solemnly addressed the nation this Sunday evening at 8 p.m. A sign that given the seriousness of the moment, a simple message of firmness, published on Saturday evening on X, could no longer be enough. And this, while sporadic clashes broke out again on Sunday in Paris.
An intervention preceded by a crisis meeting at the Élysée with the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu - who stepped up to the plate the day before - as well as the ministers concerned, and intended to respond to two angers. That of the oppositions and certain mayors, who sometimes denounce the excess, sometimes the insufficiency of maintaining order, or even demand resignations, like the RN. That of the French, also exasperated by the images of looted stores, smashed windows and street furniture, and ransacked town halls, when they were not set on fire, as in Limoges (Haute-Vienne).
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An exercise all the more perilous for Emmanuel Macron as the political context is flammable, six months before a presidential election which will mark the end of his ten-year term. Because more than the response to the expectation of a return of authority, the issue is perhaps the memory that public opinion will keep of its years in power. It is therefore no surprise that the president immediately spoke of a “moment of extreme gravity”, marked by “unbridled violence”, for which he attributed responsibility to “riots from small ultra-left groups joined by numerous delinquents”. Le Figaro summarizes what you need to remember from his speech.
“Anger and shame”
Shops looted, public buildings and town halls attacked, hundreds of police officers and gendarmes injured… “Looking at these images, we all wondered how the French could do this to France. How can they get there? Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it,” Emmanuel Macron was indignant, sharing with the French his “anger” and his “shame” at “seeing the streets of our cities thus ransacked.”
The opportunity to “express the nation’s support for our law enforcement and internal security forces. They held on and did their best.” But also to mayors and elected officials, as well as artisans and traders in “disarray”, who will not be “left alone in the face of these difficulties”. To support people affected by the violence, the Prime Minister will hold a crisis unit on Monday in order to mobilize “the fastest possible aid”.
The executive must learn “all lessons”, Macron expects “transparency”
Were there any flaws in the intelligence services or a lack of resources to ensure effective policing? Emmanuel Macron asked the government to learn “all lessons” so that this violence “cannot happen again”. “I am waiting for clear answers and there will be full transparency,” he thundered, addressing in particular the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez. Likewise, investigations against troublemakers must, according to him, be carried out “with all necessary diligence, as quickly as possible”. “Those who destroyed must pay. Those who looted must repay (…) Those who sought to bring down the Republic will have to answer for it,” he insisted. Before adding: “We will be intractable. Listening and dialogue do not mean weakness or impunity.”
The “double responsibility” of the government
The fact remains that the head of state took care to differentiate between the demonstrators who came to march with their demands and the delinquents. “We must never confuse” the latter “with those who destroyed, broke, looted,” declared Emmanuel Macron, while saying he understood the “deep anguish” expressed by young people for several weeks. “Their words must be heard without preconceptions and without minimizing the difficulties,” he said on this subject. And to insist: “Our responsibility is therefore twofold: to hear the anger and act on these causes, and to firmly respect the republican order.” “The prefects will take decisions in conjunction with the mayors to protect our cities, our public buildings and our businesses,” he said, against the backdrop of the violence still taking place on Sunday evening in Paris.
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In this regard, the government will work with relevant organizations to respond to the concerns of young people. “We cannot ask our youth to believe in the future without giving them the opportunity to construct the answers and be at the table,” he said.
A dig sent to La France Insoumise
Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate to shoot an arrow, without naming it, at La France insoumise, accused of blowing on the embers of anger. “All those who today explain to you that the emergency is to go to the streets, to demonstrate, to create disorder have only one goal: to damage the Republic and steal the debate,” charged the president, believing that “our country deserves a great presidential election in six months”. And to call on all trade union and political organizations to “unambiguously condemn all violence and call for calm”. “The country needs order, appeasement and not escalation,” he pleaded. In this sense, Sébastien Lecornu will bring together the political parties “in the coming days to obtain clear and public positions”.
