The Association of Mayors of France called on Wednesday for answers “up to the challenges”, while the mayor of this commune of Loire-Atlantique announced his resignation after his home was targeted by fire. The executive defends itself.
A controversial resignation. The announcement of the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins (Loire-Atlantique), Yannick Morez, of the abandonment of his mandate, Wednesday May 10, in connection with a project to transfer a reception center for applicants d’asile (Cada), aroused a flood of reactions of solidarity from associations of elected officials. The latter demand state support commensurate with the violence suffered, while the city councilor was the victim of the arson attack on his home a month ago.
On Wednesday, the mayor, who questions the “lack of state support” in this case, announced his resignation after fifteen years of city council, and his move from the city where he has lived for 32 years.
Denouncing Thursday “an umpteenth manifestation of the violence that more and more elected officials have to face”, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) urgently called for answers “up to the challenge”. Its president David Lisnard (Les Républicains) wanted a “precise study” of the phenomenon of attacks on elected officials.
A letter from Emmanuel Macron in early April
Faced with the outcry, the executive communicated on Thursday on the support provided to elected officials. A letter from the sub-prefecture of Saint-Nazaire to Yannick Morez, dated April 11 and to which France Télévisions had access, thus evokes, before his resignation, the registration of the mayor’s residence in the gendarmerie software making it possible to trigger “immediate intervention in the event of an alert or threat”. Furthermore, the letter assures that a “regular exchange” between the forces of order and the elected “the evolution of the threat” took place, and that “regular night patrols in front of [son] residence” have been requested.
Moreover, The Parisian (article subscribers) published a missive from Emmanuel Macron to the mayor of the town, eleven days after the fire which targeted his house. The Head of State recognized there that Yannick Morez was facing “heavy constraints” and at one “public exhibition”due to the transfer of a reception center for asylum seekers near a school.
The “analysis and fight cell” launched in mid-May
The Minister Delegate for Local Authorities, Dominique Faure, also indicated that she would reveal next week “new means to prevent and fight against attacks on elected officials”. She had already announced in mid-March the creation of an “analysis and fight cell” against attacks on elected officials, which should be launched on May 17, franceinfo learned.
A law promulgated in January also allows all associations of elected officials to become civil parties, while the Keeper of the Seals sent a circular to the public prosecutor’s offices in February to specify the procedures for judicial treatment. “Reality shows that nothing is getting better despite these advances”judge nevertheless Christophe Bouillon, president of the Association of small towns (APVF).
In 2022, acts of physical or verbal violence against elected officials increased by 32%, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior. In detail, 2,265 complaints and reports of verbal (threats, insults, contempt) or physical violence against elected officials have been recorded.