On Tuesday, July 4th, President Macron received a delegation of 220 mayors whose towns had been particularly hard hit by the past week’s riots across France. The rioters have specifically targeted representatives of local authority, namely mayors, who are generally known for their dedication to municipal affairs. Some of the violent attacks have particularly struck a chord with the public, leading to demonstrations of support outside town halls. On Sunday, July 2nd, the president of the Association des Maires de France (AMF) David Lisnard, himself mayor of Cannes on the Côte d’Azur, called on all French people to gather outside their town halls at noon on Monday, July 3rd, to show their support for their mayors, and above all in response to the extremely violent attacks of which some have been the victims, as in L’Haÿ-les-Roses, Pontoise, and Cholet.
As the president of Nouvelle Énergie, a new right-wing formation that has emerged from the ranks of the LR party, David Lisnard makes no secret of his political ambitions on the national level—perhaps reaching as far as to the office of president. He holds a strategic position at the AMF, which gives him a high profile among local councillors, and for many months, he has stood out on the French Right for his tough stance on crime. The aim of his appeal was to allow all French people shocked by the riots and impatient for a return to order to come forward.
The order was followed throughout France, in towns large and small. French people came out to show their support for their mayors, sometimes to the sound of the Marseillaise or with bouquets of flowers.
In the wake of these local demonstrations, President Macron on Tuesday received a delegation of 220 mayors at the Élysée Palace, from communities hit hard by the violence or having themselves been direct victims of the violence.
“If you are here, it is because you have been the victims of intolerable and unspeakable violence,” said Emmanuel Macron. “For many of you too, your municipal workers have been attacked and your municipalities have had to endure damage to town halls, police stations and schools.”
The President took advantage of this meeting to draw up an initial assessment of the past week. He said he was “very cautious” about the return to calm after the latest riots, but judged that “the peak” had “passed.”
The tension was palpable. “We could feel the mayors on edge,” explained David Marti, the Socialist mayor of the town of Le Creusot, speaking to BFM TV. Some stressed the need for resources, others the urgency of safety. Given the extreme diversity of the mayors, a common vision for the coming months was unlikely to emerge, despite the meeting lasting more than three hours.
Emmanuel Macron had no intention of delivering a summary of the meeting. He did, however, announce an emergency law to speed up the reconstruction of destroyed towns and neighbourhoods.
