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The conservative interior minister is worried about what Le Pen’s economic policy could trigger. Most recently, he banned right-wing extremist groups with links to the Rassamblement National.
Berlin – France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has warned of unrest after the upcoming parliamentary elections. “On the evening of the first round of voting and undoubtedly also on the evening of the second round when the final results are announced, the ultra-left and ultra-right could take the opportunity to create some kind of chaos,” Darmanin told the broadcaster on Friday. FranceInfoFrench President Emmanuel Macron recently warned of a “civil war”.
The minister comes from the Catholic right and has only been a member of the party of Emmanuel MacronDarmanin is controversial in France. In 2017, a woman accused him of sexual assault, which he has always denied.
Macron’s Interior Minister Darmanin warns of “extremely serious unrest” after new elections in France
In a circular to the police prefects, which was sent to the FranceInfo Darmanin spoke of a “context marked by several security risks” and of concern about “targeted destabilization actions”. Even more than immediately after the election, which will be organized in two rounds on this Sunday and July 7, Darmanin fears “extremely serious unrest” after the political summer break in September – if the extreme right or extreme left come to power in the parliamentary elections.
Not squeamish: Macron’s Interior Minister Darmanin pushed through pension reform despite protests
Social unrest threatened after the summer holidays, when one of the two camps would then begin to implement its economic plans and France under pressure on financial markets According to Darmanin, the unions in France traditionally organize rallies in the autumn with social demands or criticism of government plans. The French police took tough action against such demonstrations, such as those against the pension reform implemented by Macron by decree or the yellow vest movement, also on Darmani’s orders.
Meanwhile, the mayor of France’s third largest city Lyon, Grégory Doucet, fears unrest on the first election night, as the newspaper The Figaro reported. After tensions had already arisen between the extreme left and the extreme right in the city over the past two weeks against the backdrop of the parliamentary elections that had been scheduled at short notice, the mayor asked the Minister of the Interior for additional police forces for election night.
Macron’s government bans right-wing extremist groups linked to Le Pen’s party ahead of French election
Already on Wednesday (26 June), Interior Minister Darmanin banned several right-wing extremist groups. Among them was the neo-fascist student association GUD, which Darmanin told the television station BFMTV “close friendly ties with National Rally“. In January, the daily newspaper Liberationthat the connection was closely involved in the Rassemblement National’s regional election campaign. Marine Le Pen always tries to keep her distance in public from right-wing extremist violent criminals, whom her father Jean-Marie once brought into the party.
Political scientist Jean-Yves Camus estimated the core of the group to be around 50 people. The effect of the ban is rather small, the group will “probably be re-established under a different name,” Camus told the daily newspaper The Parisian. (kb with dpa)
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