After the fire in his home, the mayor of Saint-Brévin resigns and arouses the excitement of the political cl

Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brévin, Thursday, in front of his cars and his house which were burned down on March 22. LAMBERT Florence/PHOTOPQR/WEST FRANCE/MAXPPP

In a letter sent on March 24 to government spokesman Olivier Véran, the mayor of Saint-Brévin had already warned of the lack of “support from the state, law enforcement and justice”.

The decision was made after a “long thought”. After the arson of his home last Marchthe mayor of Saint-Brévin (Loire-Atlantique), Yannick Morez, decided on Wednesday May 10 to throw in the towel. “My wife and my three children no longer want me to continue”, he explained to the newspaper West France. At the head of the seaside town for six years, the city councilor even announced “leave town” where he had lived for thirty years. The strong tensions which Saint-Brévin has been the scene of since the beginning of the year finally got the better of his commitment.

At the heart of the local battle: the installation of a reception center for asylum seekers (Cada). Opened in 2016 after the dismantling of “the jungle of Calais”, this structure for migrants was to be moved to new premises, located near an elementary school. Several protest demonstrations were organized in February and April, in particular at the call of Reconquête!, the party of Éric Zemmour. Among the main opponents of the reception centre, Bernard Germain, spokesperson for the opposition collective Partout Callac, denied any “responsibility” in the departure of the aedile. “There are immigrant populations imposed on the population by decision of mayors. We are in no way responsible that someone set fire to the mayor’s car (sic)”, he defended himself Thursday on the set of RMC.

The subject quickly went beyond the local level, the opposition seizing on it to point out the responsibility of the State, in a context where local elected officials are regularly targeted.

Especially since in a letter sent on March 24 to government spokesman Olivier Véran, the mayor of Saint-Brévin had already warned of the lack of “support from the state, law enforcement and justice”. “This Cada project is however a project imposed by the State, which does not defend it, and leaves the mayors to suffer the returns”, he denounced. A missive that remained unanswered. “The subject was taken very seriously in relation to the pressures and intimidation he felt,” tried to justify the prefect of Loire-Atlantique, the day after the mayor’s decision. Too late for the opponents of the executive.

Government ‘inaction’

Communist Fabien Roussel lambasted “inaction” of the government, calling it “absolute shame”. “What is he waiting for to act?”was indignant the elected representative of the North. “The Republic is retreating”, condemned, laconic, the boss of the Greens Marine Tondelier. On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the socialist Jérôme Guedj even intervened in the Hemicycle to denounce “far right terrorism” of which the aedile would have been a victim. Standing and applauding the resigning mayor, the parliamentarians paid tribute to him, with the exception of the National Rally troops who refused to stand up. A few hours later, however, Marine Le Pen wanted to clarify her party’s position by taunting “aults” And “unacceptable bullying”. “Political disagreements are settled at the ballot box or before the courts”, recalled the patron saint of RN deputies.

It was the day after all these speeches that Emmanuel Macron spoke out in turn, deploring the “unworthy attacks” against Yannick Morez and his family. “To this elected representative of the Republic, to his wife and his children, I repeat my solidarity and that of the nation”, he wrote on Twitter.

From the island of Reunion where she is traveling, Elisabeth Borne also judged “very shocking” the fire aimed at him. While the city councilor of Saint-Brévin regretted his great loneliness on this file, the Prime Minister promised to “better protect mayors”, by reinforcing “our action to intervene earlier”. This criminal act “shows that there is a rise of extremism in our country”, she continued. The head of government will offer Yannick Morez to receive him “in the course of next week”, according to the details of Matignon, and “new means to prevent and fight against attacks on elected officials” should be revealed, as indicated by the Minister in charge of Territorial Communities, Dominique Faure.

In a statement, the ociation of Small Towns of France (APVF) sounded the alarm on this “increasing phenomenon of threats and violence against local elected officials”. Acts of physical and verbal violence increased by 32% in 2022, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior. A little over a year ago, in February 2022, the mayor of Rezé (Loire-Atlantique), Hervé Neau, had ended his life, the victim of intimidation for several weeks. A “struggle cell” against attacks on elected officials was born last March, without its means having been defined for the time being. “It is clear that public action is not always initiated with the speed and scale required”, regretted the APVF.

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