Macron's motto three weeks after the riots: "order, order, order"

Just landed in Nouméa (New Caledonia) for an official trip in which he will examine the status of the territory after the three self-determination referendums that resulted in a “no” to independence, French President Emmanuel Macron has sat down for an interview with the French television channels TF1 and France 2.

The meeting, unusual in the middle of the summer holidays, and ten days after a July 14 without a speech, has given the French head of state the opportunity to defend the results of the “hundred days” period.. On April 17, this deadline was granted to appease the country after the controversial pension reform. Specifically, he declared that the Government had “advanced, made decisions, legislated and been effective.”

In particular, he congratulated his Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, for his management of the riots that shook the country in early July after the brutal death of Nahel, the young man killed by a police officer at a roadblock.

Emmanuel Macron has advocated “order, order, order”, and has underlined his desire to restore “authority at all levels, in schools, the authority of elected representatives, of the security forces”, but also, and above all, the authority of parents.

He has stated that he wants to “start this work” at the end of the summer, and while he has expressed his desire to “make families more responsible”, he has also indicated that he wants to “support [those] who are in difficulty and […] reinvest massively in [the] young people to give them a framework again”, to prevent new “difficulties”.

He has also declared that he wants to start restoring order “on social networks”, which, in his opinion, played a crucial role in organizing the riots.. On July 4, he had mentioned the possibility of cutting off access to these platforms, a statement that was widely criticized even within his own party.

Macron has also addressed the growing controversy surrounding comments by Frédéric Veaux, head of the French National Police, who claimed that a police officer “does not belong in jail” ahead of his possible trial.. Last Thursday, four police officers were charged with assault in Marseille, and one of them entered preventive detention.

“I understand the emotion […] felt by our police officers, who faced violence during the riots,” he said. But he clarified that “no one in the Republic” is “above the law.”