The reception at the Élysée was announced as a “meeting with the mayors of municipalities particularly affected by urban violence” but many of the elected officials out of the more than 200 guests welcomed rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré on Tuesday left with an impression of ‘unfinished. Obviously, this is what prompted several of them to leave the premises before the end, such as the LR mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne. Zartoshte Baktiari was one of the most outspoken critics coming out of the presidential palace. “I went there with high expectations because for me, a President of the Republic is one who shares a vision and concrete elements. But not only did we not make progress, but many exhausted mayors simply felt like they were participating in group therapy. And some have come a long way and left before the end, like me”. A young mayor from Isère, still reeling from his destroyed school, would have liked to hear some answers that never came.
The chosen one will however have waited more than three hours before bowing out, hoping like others that over the regular departures, he would have a small chance to ask a question. But he had the feeling that everything was “orchestrated” and “prepared in advance”, like the first words left by Emmanuel Macron to Patrick Jarry, PC mayor of Nanterre, the place that triggered the riots after the death of young Nahel . “I raised my hand for 1h30 in vain. The president had identified the mayors who were to speak and the city councilor of Nanterre at his side read notes. But in the end, by avoiding the scandal or the criticism, Emmanuel Macron angered everyone and for me, this exercise turned out to be disastrous, a fiasco”, regrets Zartoste Bakthiari, even going so far as to judge that the presidential function stood out. “damaged” by this event insofar as the early departure of many mayors ultimately left him with an “impression of contempt” for the Head of State.
The criticism of the Ile-de-France mayor is among the harshest, but other colleagues have clearly expressed regret. This is the case of Quentin Gesell, DVD mayor of Dugny, who also left before the end. “I haven’t heard anything very constructive but a progress report is planned for the fall and we hope for something concrete but we recognize that it was not the best of formats”, nuances the elected official. “At the end of the speech half the room was empty… everyone came out pulling their faces,” said Philippe Rio, PCF mayor of Grigny. If Marie-Claude Jarrot, Horizons mayor of Montceau-les-Mines, was delighted to perceive a “listening president”, Damien Meslot, LR mayor of Belfort, had the feeling of being faced with a head of the State in a “state of stupefaction” and “a little lost”.
Among the other criticisms leveled at this presidential meeting, we also hear the regret of having participated in a presidential communication operation. “We have clearly been instrumentalised. Obviously, by inviting so many elected officials, the objective was to create mass, ”continues the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne. Anticipating this risk, some even declined the invitation, like Patrick Proisy, LFI mayor of Faches-Thumesnil, who accused the authorities of “restoring their health” on the “back” of the mayors and of “putting under the rug the real problems”. Conversely, it should also be noted that some mayors welcomed an opportunity to say what was on their hearts after being on the front lines during these long days of violence.
But on the merits, what can explain such disappointment of the mayors, it is perhaps the urgency of the concrete solutions that they were waiting for in the hope of no longer suffering from such a wave of riots. In Neuilly-sur-Marne, Zartoshte Bakthiari, mayor of the second city in France to have triggered a curfew after Clamart, hoped for immediate answers on security. “On the ground, the national police tell us that these riots have calmed down because the drug traffickers have signaled the end of recess. It’s Lunar! “, gets carried away the elected official, tired of being confronted with multiple problems to ensure security in his city. Recruitment of trained municipal police officers, adapted equipment (knowing that municipal defense bullet launchers (LBD) shoot at 7 meters against 40 meters for those of the national police), legal impossibility to use drones when dealers use them… mayor of the Paris region believes that the urgency of the responses to be provided is also strongly placed under the pressure of the Olympic Games scheduled in a year.
The mayor of Iranian origin would also have appreciated insights into the means of fighting against school drop-out (he regrets not being able to have a file of young people with problems) or even on the issues of local taxation. Above all, by responding to the invitation of the President of the Republic on Tuesday, he had hoped for new prospects.
But after this missed meeting, he no longer seems very certain of the determination of the authorities to really implement solutions to avert the risk of new insurgencies. “For six years, Emmanuel Macron had plenty of time to lay down leads, but he has not done so and he will not do so”, blows the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne. Before concluding: “I want to carry at arm’s length the little piece of the Republic that I have to defend, but I would like the President of the Republic to allow us to do so by making decisions. I want to say to him: give us a course and we will follow you! But we’re on a ship in a storm, with no captain and no lights to light us up in the dark! “.
