Yannick Morez left his post as mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, in Loire-Atlantique on Wednesday May 10, after several attacks.
“We didn’t want to suffer anymore”, launches Saturday, May 13 on France Inter Yannick Morez, three days after announcing that he was leaving his post as mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins in Loire-Atlantique. Last March, in the middle of the night, his two vehicles were burned and the fire spread to the front of his house. At the origin of this hatred initiated by the extreme right: a project to extend a reception center for asylum seekers already established in the town.
This decision is “well thought out”says Yannick Morez, who points out that he was verbally abused again the previous weekend, when he was seated on the terrace with his family. “I was accused of bringing migrants to the town of Saint-Brevin and it was just so when he left, he did not accuse me of having myself set fire to my vehicles and my house. does not want to suffer this kind of aggression, even verbal”relates the former elected official who also leaves the town, his accommodation and puts an end to his professional activity.
Elected in 2008, Yannick Morez recognizes that being mayor “was a little bit like a dream”. A commitment he “do not regret at all”. “It’s something important, which is a pleasure when you see all that you can do at the level of the municipality”he explains. “A great function” which allows “to try to envisage the future”. “It ends badly, it’s a shame, it’s a bit of a mess, I would have liked to go to the end”loose Yannick Morez.
“More and more attacks, less and less support”
The resigning mayor denounces the lack of state support and the lack of communication with elected officials. “I realize that in fact at the national level, that is to say all my elected colleagues and mayors, feel exactly the same thing”he remarks, encouraging the improvement of relations between mayors and prefects in particular. “It feels like there are two opposing worlds”he regrets.
Over the years, Yannick Morez has noticed that it was more and more complicated to ensure the mandate of mayor with increasingly important constraints, “at the regulatory level” And “fewer and fewer financial supports”. Facing him also, a rise in violence and extremes. “And it’s scary”, he admits. According to him, the role of mayors “has lost its aura” whereas they “are on the front line” by defending state policy on the ground. “We take verbal attacks, in some cases even physical attacks. We see that attacks on elected officials are increasing.” A hatred amplified by the appearance of social networks, deplores Yannick Morez.