Jacques Serais / Photo credits: NICOLAS GUYONNET / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP
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09:52, November 28, 2023
While last week, the executive accused the right of political co-opting, Olivier Véran was in Crépol this Monday to express his support. And as if there had been an awareness at the highest level of the State, the minister’s speech seems to have radically changed.
Are we witnessing a change of heart on the part of the government in its analysis of the Crépol drama? A week after the death of Thomas, stabbed to death in Crépol, the executive provided its support – belatedly – to the young man’s relatives and to the inhabitants of this village in Drôme. The executive finally seems to take stock of the explosion that this tragedy has caused in public opinion. Olivier Véran has completely revised his language elements.
“Transition of our society”
Barely six days ago, the government spokesperson declared after the council of ministers: “I have no inclination to seek the slightest explanation. Does this reflect what society has become? French today? I am perhaps an optimist but I consider that our society is more solid than that”, refusing in passing to take up the diagnosis of “wilding” formulated by the Minister of the Interior.
“It takes more than a word to be able to say things,” he concluded. Olivier Véran therefore wants to choose his words. He had carefully prepared them for his trip to Crépol, and it is clear that the content of his remarks is no longer quite the same. “We must face reality and have the courage to say things. What cost Thomas his life is neither a news item nor a simple brawl on the sidelines of a village ball. It is a drama which puts us at risk of a shift in our society if we are not up to the task,” he declared to Crépol on Monday. An expression this time similar to those of the main right-wing political leaders, who last week were again accused of political exploitation.