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Wednesday, 05 December 2007 |
The government has learnt from the riots of 2005. Every effort has been made to avoid making a volatile situation worse, after the deaths of two teenagers at Villiers-le-Bel, a suburb of Paris with high levels of youth unemployment, when they crashed into a police car on their mopeds in the last week of November.
From China, Nicolas Sarkozy called for everyone to calm down and get on with their responsibilities. No more explosive talk as in 2005 of racaille and high pressure hoses – karchers – to get rid of the undesirables.
Former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin made comments on RMC radio which were generally derided for being unhelpful, an indication of how his popularity has fallen since 2005. “In the face of the injustice that was felt in Clichy-sous-Bois and is felt in Villiers-le-Bel today, it is important to find out what happened as quickly as possible. It is not a matter of weeks, it is a matter of hours,” he said.
By contrast, the pro-Sarkozy spokeswoman for the UMP Nadine Morano, herself brought up in an underprivileged suburb, said: “There is no magic wand for the banlieues, it will take a generation to transform the difficult areas.” Her stance is symptomatic of the united front which this government can show, in contrast to the government of the 2005 riots.
The Minister of the Interior has visited the parents of the victims, the Prime Minister has phoned them, the prosecutor has visited and they themselves have called for calm.
The chaos of 2005 might yet be avoided. Sarkozy has reformed the CRS (riot squad), introducing scientific proof rather than uncorroborated police evidence, and the use of indelible paint guns at Villiers-le-Bel against rioting youths should avoid the usual imposssible-to-resolve disputes in court.
RH
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