Arthur Delaborde with AFP
modified to
07:14, July 03, 2023
The riots upset the agenda of the President of the Republic. The head of state canceled his long-planned visit to Germany and held a crisis meeting at the Élysée. Objective: to show that Emmanuel Macron and his ministers are mobilized to stop the violence and understand their origins.
Emmanuel Macron was to go this Sunday evening and until Tuesday in Germany but he finally had to postpone this state visit to call a crisis meeting at the Élysée in the face of the riots which have lasted for almost a week. Events that follow the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old young man, killed by a police officer after refusing to comply during a traffic check in Nanterre in the Hauts-de-Seine.
Alongside the Head of State: Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti. The goal for the President of the Republic: to convey the image of a head of state who is firm and mobilized to put an end to the violence.
The latter thus asks his ministers “to do everything to restore order and guarantee a return to calm”. According to the President, the government must continue to be on the side of the police, but also of the gendarmes, magistrates, clerks, firefighters and elected officials mobilized day and night. He calls on the ministers, each in their own field, to be present on the ground in the coming days.
“Draw All Conclusions”
The Head of State also relies on consultation with a very political agenda. He will receive today the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher and the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun Pivet to discuss the situation that France is going through. He also asked Elisabeth Borne to receive the presidents of the parliamentary groups at the same time.
In addition, Emmanuel Macron invites this Monday to the Elysee Palace the more than 220 mayors of the municipalities who have suffered violence in recent days. Finally, the president is planning for the long term: “We must first qualify the events before drawing conclusions”, he explains, promising to begin “meticulous work to understand in depth what may have lead to the current crisis”.
Emmanuel Macron will chair a new meeting of the same format “within 48 hours” to take stock of the situation.