Several times his fist hit the desk. If it wasn’t for anger, it was impatience. A little over six months before the presidential election, there is, in fact, little time left for Emmanuel Macron to counter the attacks of his opponents on his security record. Barely a few months to convince the French, too, that he is neither too lax nor too authoritarian in the matter, the evils with which he is overwhelmed by the oppositions of the right and the left.
Tuesday, September 14 in Roubaix (North), to close the round tables organized within the framework of the “Beauvau of security”, the Head of State has thus deployed an arsenal of measures “Substantial” in order to improve and transform the work of law enforcement agencies. A ” overhaul “, supposed “Shake up taboos and habits”, he warned in front of an audience of gendarmes, police officers and elected officials, including one of his possible opponents in 2022, Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France region.
To fight against a violence that is not only ” a feeling “ but a reality, Emmanuel Macron has promised public money. Again and a lot. To the increase of 1.7 billion euros granted since his arrival at the Elysee Palace to the budget of the Ministry of the Interior will be added an additional 1.5 billion euros, including 500 million dedicated to Beauvau security measures .
Too much ? Too few ? Too late ? Even before the arrival of the Head of State in Roubaix, Mr. Bertrand did not fail to severely judge the action of Mr. Macron. “Four and a half years later [son arrivée à l’Elysée]… This is not serious. He missed out on security throughout his mandate ”, he denigrated, denouncing a “Campaign speech”.
“Global” response
Seeming to address first of all to those who, like the elected one on the right, would not fail to criticize a president in an unofficial campaign raining billions on the gray areas of his five-year term, Emmanuel Macron held, in preamble , to defend its record: thirty-six attacks thwarted since 2017, drop by a quarter in the number of burglaries, 20% less vehicle thefts, record seizures of cannabis, cocaine and heroin or 52 million euros of criminal assets seized. “The numbers speak for themselves, vsThe results are yours ”, he declared, addressing the gendarmes and the police.
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