French Minister of Interior assumes security failure

O minister of the French Interior today assumed to be the “only responsible” for the “failure” of security mounted in October, when demonstrations in favor of improving the educational system degenerated into serious disturbances in the main cities of France.

Laurent Nuñez was pleased to appear before a committee of inquiry set up by the National Assembly to clarify the events of October 17 and the response of the security forces, on a day when commercial establishments were looted and public buildings burned down, such as the Limoges City Hall.

“It’s an opportunity to spend some time exposing my technical analysis,” he said, ensuring that “he never had any difficulty in taking responsibility or accountability”.

The Minister of the Interior insisted on the declaration of being “the only person responsible” for the security operation of October 17, although he argued that the error was that he “did not request the early return of the police staff and the Gendarmerie” for that date.

In this sense, he acknowledged that “the October 17 balance sheet is a failure” and regretted that “it was not possible to guarantee the safety of public buildings and commercial establishments”, while “security forces faced unprecedented violence.”.

According to data from the Ministry of Interior, 441 protest actions took place on October 17, which mobilized 550,000 people, of which 110,000 in Paris.

Secondary school students maintained their mobilizations during the weekend, despite the government's proposal to reform the system of access to higher education, known as ‘Parcoursup’, demanding its abolition.

The so-called “yellow vests” and the unions also participated in the demonstrations to protest against the high cost of living and police violence, as well as to express support for the general strike called for next Thursday.

The French student organizations have called for two new days of mobilization and blocking of educational institutions for today and Thursday in France, in a railway with the Government that has been going on for more than a month.

On Monday, the National Student Union of France (UNEF) called for a “black journey” today in universities, with general assemblies and blockades, and also called for a mass mobilization on the streets for Thursday, coinciding with the trade union strike in defense of purchasing power and public services in the country.

This call joins the summons of other student organizations and secondary school students, who announced blockades for Monday, today and Thursday, as well as participation in the general strike day of November 5, promoted by the French unions.

The mobilizations arise after the executive announced a week ago several measures to respond to the demands of the educational sector.

Among them, there is greater transparency in the criteria for admission and rejection of applications through the ‘Parcoursup’, the access platform to the university, the elimination of motivation letters, the renewal of degraded infrastructure in schools and the reduction of the number of students per class.