After being the victim of an arson attack at his home in connection with the reception center for asylum seekers in the town, the mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, Yannick Morez (Various right), resigned on Wednesday May 11. He also laments lack of state support “.
” This Tuesday, May 9, I sent a letter to the prefect of Loire-Atlantique informing him of my wish to resign from my mandate as mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins “, wrote Wednesday Yannick Morez on the Facebook page of the Breton commune of 15 000 inhabitants.
For several months, the town has been shaken by tensions following strong opposition to a project to move the reception center for asylum seekers installed since 2016. And a few weeks ago, on March 22, the The home of the elected official was targeted by an arson attack which reduced two of his cars and part of the facade of his house to ashes. ” I made this decision for personal reasons, in particular following the fire “, he said, specifying that he will leave Saint-Brevin-les-Pins at the end of June, where he also worked as a general practitioner.
He also denounced lack of state support ” in that case. ” The state leaves us alone in the front line with this center, even if it decides on the move project “, he told AFP last March. Yannick Morez, mayor for six years, also had 15 years of presence on the City Council for him.
>> To read also: France: in Saint-Brevin, the pros and cons of the face-to-face refugee reception center project
” The Republic is retreating »
This announcement provoked general indignation from the political class. ” State inaction is an absolute disgrace. What is he waiting for to act? “, tweeted Fabien Roussel, the boss of the French Communist Party. ” It is a shame that the state did not take the measure of what was happening to him and did not comfort him. It’s a shame to continue to trivialize the far right “, reacted for his part on the same social network Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party. The manager ofEurope Ecology-The GreensMarine Tondelier, she judged that “ the Republic retreats “.
” The attacks against Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, and against his family, are outrageous. To this elected representative of the Republic, to his wife and children, I reiterate my solidarity and that of the Nation “, also reacted Emmanuel Macron on Twitter. ” What happened is very shocking and I would like to assure the mayor of my full support “said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, visiting Reunion. His entourage then specified that she would offer him to receive him at Matignon ” over the next week “.
The attacks against Yannick Morez, mayor of Saint-Brevin-les-Pins, and against his family, are outrageous. To this elected representative of the Republic, to his wife and children, I reiterate my solidarity and that of the Nation.
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 11, 2023
Following the mayor’s criticism of the state, the head of government said her desire to ” better protect mayors “, of ” respond more effectively when there are threatss”, from ” strengthen our action to intervene earlier, to be able to support mayors, to identify their difficulties and better support them in the face of violence of which they may be victims “.
Majority coast, cn Thursday morning, Aurore Bergé, head of the Renaissance deputies in the Assembly, paid tribute to the elected official. ” He makes a decision that is not his choice, he makes a decision under duress », she said on France Inter. She wishes that ” threats and intimidation against elected officials are unanimously condemned “. And to add: The question that is asked is that of the protection of our elected officials. »
At the National Assembly, the deputies present, with the notable exception of the elected members of the National Rally, rose to pay tribute to Yannick Morez.