“We have something which is largely undersized, very symptomatic and which does not start from a general reflection”, estimates Benjamin Morel, political scientist and lecturer at the University of Paris II

Do the announcements presented by Elisabeth Borne in response to the June riots seem sufficient, and above all, do they arrive on time? “Has the head of government really proposed measures to firmly tackle the forty young people who ransacked the city, who brought a reign of terror to a town of 40,000 inhabitants? The answer is no“, says Zartoshte Bakhtiari, DVD mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne (Seine-Saint-Denis). “There were big words announced. In reality, there is not much behind“, adds Zartoshte Bakhtiari. Instead of parental responsibility, military supervision or curfew, the elected official believes that it should have been “firmness measures and reestablish authority“.”The only point in which I think we could move in the right direction is to give greater power to the municipal police, which are the everyday police.“, estimates the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne.

An “undersized” response

Is the need for firmness a fairly complex equation for the Prime Minister to resolve? “A response had to be provided after the latest riots in the suburbs. And this response should not come too late either. (…) Now, very clearly, we have something which is largely undersized, very symptomatic and which does not start from a general reflection. The problems are not just specific to the suburbs. The strength of a sanction, especially among the youngest, is not its importance, it is its precocity and its certainty. That means having effective justice.”declares Benjamin Morel, political scientist and lecturer at Paris II University.