Macron refuses interior minister Nunez's resignation after French protest 'failures'
The Elysee said on Monday that Laurent Nunez had offered his resignation on Sunday and that Emmanuel Macron had refused it, tasking the interior minister instead with ensuring transparency over the 'failures in planning and intelligence' that led to France's weekend violence.
Emmanuel Macron on Monday refused the resignation of Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, even as the French president acknowledged “failures in anticipation and intelligence” that allowed the weekend’s cost-of-living protests to descend into some of the worst urban violence France has seen in years.
“The interior minister submitted his resignation to the president on Sunday,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. “Given the necessity for continued leadership of law enforcement at this time, the president refused” (Devdiscourse/France 24).
Macron instead tasked Nunez with taking “all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence” and putting in place “new operational methods for security forces” (Korea Times/AFP-Yonhap). Some opposition politicians had called for Nunez to be sacked after Saturday’s demonstrations over the cost of living saw public buildings attacked and supermarkets looted nationwide.
At least 2,400 people were arrested on Saturday, with almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured, according to the interior ministry (Korea Times/AFP-Yonhap).
Macron also announced that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu would chair a crisis unit to expedite aid to businesses hit by the unrest, and ordered prefects to work with mayors to protect public buildings and shops in the coming weeks (Devdiscourse/France 24).
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