for François Hollande “the state of emergency is not the best way to act” in the face of urban violence

While new urban violence occurred overnight from Thursday to Friday in many cities in France, the former President of the Republic François Hollande estimates on France Bleu Cotentin that the state of emergency, demanded by certain political figures, is not “not the best way to act today”.

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François Hollande recalls that he himself “used the state of emergency in a very different context, that of terrorism” after the 2015 attacks. But the former head of state is not in favor of a state of emergency in this case of urban violence.

Dialogue is essential

The former socialist president judges the current situation “very serious”. If he “there have been urban riots in the past, there the movement seems more general”, he analyzes. He therefore calls for “finding dialogue, first with the elected officials who are on the front line” in the face of tension. “We must restore order by the means which are those of the Republic”. François Hollande considers that “democracy is not powerless” and that she “requires firmness”. He also judges the “indispensable dialogue”.

François Hollande does not seem to be in favor of a new law relating to the methods of intervention during refusals to comply either. He believes that the current law “aligned the right of police officers in self-defense with that of the gendarmes”. He considers that “if the rules had been respected” in Nanterre during the Nahel roadside check then “there would not have been this tragedy”. For Francois Hollande, “we must rather return to the practices and the training of the police and the gendarmes”.