Macron and Borne forced to react after the resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brévin

Emmanuel Macron expressed his “solidarity”, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, of her “support”, the left stepped up to the plate… The indignation was general, or almost, this Thursday the day after the resignation of the mayor of Saint-Brévin Yannick Morez.

For several months, the councilor of Loire-Atlantique had been under pressure from far-right groups and members of Reconquest, the party of Eric Zemmour. The municipality’s project to move the reception center for asylum seekers (Cada), created in 2016, near an elementary school, had led to the creation of a collective of local residents quickly taken over by identity groups from ‘far right. At the end of March, the mayor’s house was burned down, while several demonstrations had taken place in recent months in the town, in a tense climate.

“Lack of support” from the state

In his letter of resignation, Yannick Morez denounces the “lack of support” from the state. He will also leave Saint-Brévin. At the beginning of April, in the program “Envoyé Spécial” on France2, he went further by deploring an “abandonment” on the part of the State. “The state imposes on mayors and elected officials from the Cadas but behind, in fact, on mayors to manage,” he declared in front of his burnt house.

“For them, migrants are potential criminals.”

Saint-Brévin-les-Pins has been welcoming asylum seekers for 6 years, without any problem.

💥 However, the mayor, Yannick Morez, and other elected officials are receiving threats to stop this project.#Correspondent @EliseLucet pic.twitter.com/ax4bg3puun

— Special Envoy (@EnvoyeSpecial) April 6, 2023

For ociations defending asylum seekers, this resignation is a “political and moral defeat”. For the prefecture of Loire-Atlantique, measures had been taken for the protection of the mayor.

This is not the first time that an elected official has found himself on the front line on the Cada issue. In January, the mayor of Callac, in the Côtes-d’Armor, had to give up the creation of a center for asylum seekers under pressure from the far right. “It was no longer tenable”, indicated the mayor following the persistent tensions in his commune around this project.

The executive on the defensive

The emotion aroused by the situation of Yannick Morez was such that it placed the executive on the defensive by forcing him to react quickly, failing to have been able to prevent his resignation. “The attacks against Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, and against his family, are outrageous. To this elected representative of the Republic, to his wife and children, I repeat my solidarity and that of the Nation, ”tweeted Emmanuel Macron.

Traveling to the island of Reunion, Elisabeth Borne denounced a rise in extremism and promised to strengthen the protection of elected officials. “What happened is very shocking and I would like to ure the mayor of my full support,” said the Prime Minister.

You did nothing to protect him, for fear of facing the far right

Manuel Bompard coordinator of La France Insoumise

On the left, support for the mayor of Saint-Brévin was also accompanied by virulent criticism of the executive, accused of not having supported the elected representative enough. “You have done nothing to protect him, for fear of confronting the far right”, denounced Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of La France Insoumise after the remarks of Elisabeth Borne, whom he described as “Tartuffe “. Wednesday evening in the National embly, with the exception of the parliamentarians of the National Rally (RN), all the deputies rose in support of the mayor of Saint-Brévin on the initiative of the socialist Jérôme Guedj.

The AMF calls for responses “responsive to the challenges”

If the RN deputies did not support the mayor of Saint-Brévin at the Palais-Bourbon, Marine Le Pen reacted. “Aggressions and intimidation against elected officials are unacceptable! In the Republic, political disagreements are settled at the ballot box or before the courts. This rule suffers no exception,” she said on Twitter.

LR president Eric Ciotti supported the resigning mayor. According to AFP, Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest party had distanced itself in recent weeks from the mobilization against the move of Cada de Saint-Brévin, believing that “it was going too far”.

The ociations of elected officials, starting with the ociation of Mayors of France, have asked for additional resources and government responses “at the height of the challenges”. This resignation comes at a time when elected officials are more than ever under pressure. Mayors are often on the front line of the anger that is expressed, but also, during the pension reform, many deputies, mainly from the majority, have been victims of acts of intimidation with offices being targeted.

According to official figures, acts of physical or verbal violence against elected officials increased by 32% in 2022 and 1,293 mayors have resigned since 2020.