Gérald Darmanin’s timid mea-culpa will not have been enough. After the Minister of the Interior agreed, before the senators who were hearing him on Wednesday, that obviously “Things could have been better organized”, the opposition continued to vilify the authorities for the chaotic management of the Champions League final on Saturday at the Stade de France between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
After these incidents, the socialist mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, demanded, Thursday, June 2 during a municipal council, “changes” in security management. “What happened at the Stade de France is a shame for our country, our region, our capital, which will host the biggest, most recognized and broadcast event in the world, the Olympic Games and Paralympics”, declared the candidate for the last presidential election, now turned towards these Paris Olympics which she had obtained in 2017.
Mme Hidalgo recalled that, for Euro 2016, a fan-zone “with 90,000 people on the Champ-de-Mars” had been organized without incident, in the “respect for partners and cooperation” in matters of security. But “this era is over since we have a change in the doctrine of maintaining order in Paris which consists of moving towards logic of traps rather than de-escalation”she lamented, dating this paradigm shift to 2018, “year of the emergence of the movement of “yellow vests””.
“I am elected, he is leaving! »
The day before, during a meeting in Paris, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had also fired red balls at the attitude of the police at the Stade de France, characterized in particular by a significant use of tear gas – which Gérald Darmanin has recognized as “disproportionate” and for which he apologized in front of the senators.
“I have never done anything but protest against such use of force, commented Jean-Luc Mélenchon. I ask, when we are going to have the Olympics, when we are going to have rugby championships, that the overall conception of the use of forces [de l’ordre] be reviewed, rethought. »
The diatribe of the leader of La France insoumise specifically targeted Didier Lallement, the Paris police chief: “In three weeks, I am elected, he is leaving! », said Mr. Mélenchon, in reference to his ambition to be “elected prime minister”, if the voters give a majority to the left in the legislative elections of June, thereby causing cohabitation.
On the right, Xavier Bertrand, for his part, deplored the “denial” of the executive. ” Why don’t we talk about what happened beyond the counterfeit notes? » – which may explain part of the unrest on Saturday –, asked the president (Les Républicains) of the Hauts-de-France region, of which Gérald Darmanin, in the past, was vice-president. Mr. Bertrand thus denounced “regular attacks by gangs who came to rob, to attack supporters”.
“France has not become a calm country”
The former contender for the nomination of the right for the presidential election directly targeted Emmanuel Macron. “The president talked to us about health, he is going to talk about education today and why is he not talking about security? », asked Mr. Bertrand, for whom “the need for authority has not disappeared in the country, France has not become a calm country”.
Under the fire of criticism, the Minister of the Interior has however once again attracted the support of the Head of State: on the sidelines of his trip to Marseille devoted to education issues, Emmanuel Macron reiterated his ” trust “ in Gérald Darmanin, just like in Didier Lallement.
