Alexis Delafontaine // Photo credit: Ludovic MARIN / AFP
The crisis engendered by the death of Nahel and the riots that followed also had a political blow. At Nupes, some deputies do not digest the attitude of the members of insubordinate France. This refusal to call for calm creates discord and the union of the left is cracking on all sides.
Could the political crisis linked to the riots be fatal to Nupes? While eminent members of rebellious France refuse to call for calm, the boss of the PS, Olivier Faure, does not hide his “profound disagreement” with Jean-Luc Mélenchon. And Fabien Roussel, leader of the Communists, said he was shocked by his remarks. At the origin of the discord, a set of tweets calling for “justice” rather than “calm”: “The watchdogs order us to call for calm. We call for justice”.
The guard dogs order us to call for calm. We call for justice. Withdraw the legal action against poor Nahel. Hang the murderous policeman and his accomplice who ordered him to shoot. Leave the paramedic alone.
— Jean-Luc Melenchon (@JLMelenchon) June 28, 2023
Debate around the “license to kill”
The 2017 law, carried by Bernard Cazeneuve, has been at the center of debate since Nahel’s death. The latter allows the police to shoot if their life is endangered by a vehicle. And again, it is a subject of contention within the Nupes. La France insoumise believes that it embodies a “license to kill” issued to the police. The socialist Christine Pirès Beaune, who voted this law, fully assumes: “I do not have to apologize for having voted this law. I tell you, it is not a license to kill”, defends herself -She. These riots further fractured the Nupes, while at the same time, the Communist Party had just elected its leader for the European elections, putting an end to the rebellious dream of a common list.