| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| French minister condemns anti-Sarkozy protests |
| 2007-05-10 |
| Violent protests against Nicolas Sarkozy's election as president took place for a third night, the French interior minister said on Wednesday, with around 200 cars torched and some 80 people arrested. "For the last three days, since the night of the election, we have had an unacceptable situation," said Interior Minister Francois Baroin, blaming the far-left for the violence. Police reported trouble in a number of places overnight, including around Paris's Bastille Square which has been the epicentre of anti-Sarkozy violence in the French capital since Sunday's presidential vote. "This past night around 200 vehicles were torched and there were slightly more than 80 arrests. It is clearly politically motivated and linked to the extreme left," Baroin told France Info radio. "The electorate has spoken, we have seen a remarkably vigorous democracy in our country. Changes of mood should be reflected at the ballot box and not in the street." Between 200-300 demonstrators blocked Paris's Bastille Square late Tuesday chanting: "Fascist Sarko! The people will have your skin". Local residents said large numbers of police sealed off the area and took around two hours to restore order. There was also violence in and around the southeastern city of Lyon, where an office belonging to Sarkozy's UMP party was set ablaze by youths throwing Molotov cocktails. French radio reported that arsonists had also set fire to an infant school in a Paris suburb. A total of 365 vehicles were burnt in metropolitan France in the night of Monday to Tuesday, marking the second consecutive day of violence since the presidential run- off on Sunday, according to official figures issued by police on Tuesday. The head office of the national police (DGPN) shows in its figures issued late Tuesday that 160 arrests were made and a policeman injured. The figures are lower compared to those recorded in the night of Sunday to Monday when 730 vehicles were torched and 595 people arrested. The new wave of anti-Sarkozy demonstrations which degenerated into serious clashes with the police were condemned by leftists political parties, who called for calm and urged those responsible to express their discontent through voting during the forthcoming legislative elections scheduled for June 10 and June 17. Socialist party leaders said such violence would only boost support for the UMP ahead of next month's parliamentary election. "I launched an appeal Sunday evening for responsibility and calm," Socialist Party's secretary general Francois Hollande said on RTL radio. Paris socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoi said "democracy calls for the respect of universal suffrage." Sarkozy has a reputation as a law-and-order hardliner, making him a hate figure for the left. The Socialist party's presidential candidate Segolene Royal warned last week there would be violence if he won Sunday's election. The UMP accused her of looking to incite trouble. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #13 Congradulations Mr. Sarkozy, do what's right and you'll do just fine. Learn from the previous administration's mistakes. |
| Posted by: Uleremble Bluetooth1148 2007-05-10 23:56 |
| #12 Remember to fill the water cannons with indelible UV fluorescent penetrating dye. This makes it easy to sort out who was on the front lines throwing those firebombs and stones. When the water runs out, reload with raw sewage. Also, blaming the "far-left" for disturbances with some "200 cars torched" is dissembling at best. We all know who the Car-B-Que chefs are and they ain't leftists. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-10 19:12 |
| #11 Nothing a "whiff of grapeshot" won't fix |
| Posted by: Rob06 2007-05-10 14:01 |
| #10 Violent protests IOW: riots. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-05-10 13:10 |
| #9 If they cant get their agenda approved at the polls, they go directly to to courts and attempt to bypass the voters. When the courts fail to uphold their ass-hatery they are left with no other intellectual tool other than violence. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-05-10 10:12 |
| #8 Events like this are not necessarily bad. They show the real face of, so called, activists. Those activists gained a reputation of acting from position of higher moral ground. In fact it turns out they are just old fashion left wing extremists, hard line communists and terrorist supporters. Activist are very loud and a lot of people hesitate to argue with them, partly because they are agressive, partly because of their reputation. In a couple of situations I was in a situation to openly chalenge their views, and, being given an example, other people started to challenge them, too. I think that it is important to speak out and expose their propaganda. DG |
| Posted by: trenchsol 2007-05-10 06:57 |
| #7 Leeftists, more and more, remind me of a certain religious element whose slogan seems to be, "My way or the die way." |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-05-10 06:36 |
| #6 Sarkozy can start his administration out the right way if he says his government will not interfere with the protesters calling for his skin provided they do not break the law while simultaneously using as much force as needed to arrest all rioters, looters and arsonists. |
| Posted by: Jolurt Peacock2816 2007-05-10 06:32 |
| #5 Water cannon, rubber bullets, baton rounds, CS gas, batons and, mass arrests . Order can be quickly restored if these are applied. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2007-05-10 06:05 |
| #4 Mr Mendiola. You have it all wrong. The founder of gendarmerie a such Napoleon Bonaparte didn't want a that gendarmerie engage in dishonorable acts who would have ended tainting the honor of French Armed forces as a whole. Therefore Gendarmerie is supposed to serve the law and is not allowed to operate out of uniform. That means no spying, no infiltrating, no shady deals with truants. This is the realm of the "Police Nationale" (civilians). The tacit rule is gendarmerie serves the law first and governemnt later while for police nationale it is the opposite. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-05-10 05:18 |
| #3 About the slogan "Sakozy, fascist, the people will have your skin". In French have the skin from someone means to kill him. Notice, the respect for democracy exhibited not only by the far left but also by some Socialists who are supposedly part of the "Constitutional left". |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-05-10 05:07 |
| #2 OK, they've had their fun. Bring out the water cannons and sweep the streets and regain calm before the Parliamentary elections. |
| Posted by: Woozle Elmeter2970 2007-05-10 01:08 |
| #1 Will the USA dev its own version of the GENDARMERIE, which iff I recall correctly is still a special or unique Corps with the French Army. WAFF.com Poster > IS A UNITED STATES POLICE FORCE NEEDED? aka FEDERAL POLICE or US NATIONAL POLICE, ec. *AFTERMATH OF FORT DIX INCIDENT??? MSNBC TV > in aftermath of anti-Sarkozy riots, PERT > FRANCE'S GENDARMES > GENDARMES EXIST TO SERVE AND PROTECT THE FRENCH STATE, NOT THE RIGHTS OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE, ergo have even more "liberal" = intense/stronger? US PATRIOT ACT-STYLE rules regarding suspect detention, public and personal surveillance, investigation, and interrogation. IOW, DESPITE EURO COMPLAINTS ABOUT ALLEGED PATRIOT ACT ABUSES BY THE USA, OUR PATRIOT ACT IS LITE COMPARED TO THEIRS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-05-10 00:44 |