Violence of 17 October: Cannes residents invited to gather outside their city hall at noon this Monday
Translated from French. At the call of the Association of Mayors of France, chaired by Cannes mayor David Lisnard, mayors, municipal councils and residents are invited to gather outside town halls this Monday 19 October from noon, after the fires in public buildings and the looting of shops on Saturday.
Translated from the French original. Lire en français
The gathering is set for noon this Monday 19 October, outside city hall. In a statement published on Sunday, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) called on mayors and municipal councils across the country to gather outside their town halls, together with all local stakeholders who wish to take part, to condemn the violence that followed the day of demonstrations on Saturday 17 October. Noon is the time recommended by the association, which notes that gatherings may also be held later in the day.
In Cannes, the call carries a particular resonance: the AMF is chaired by David Lisnard, the city's mayor. The gathering proposed to Cannes residents is therefore part of a national movement led by their own mayor, and it aims, in the words of the statement, to express solidarity with the towns affected and to reaffirm an attachment to democratic institutions.
“An unacceptable threshold”, according to the association
The association grounds its call in the fires set in town halls and public buildings and in the looting of shops recorded on Saturday. “The AMF totally condemns these attacks and this vandalism, whose violence crosses an unacceptable threshold”, it writes, noting that the demonstrations themselves respected public order. For the association, the target goes beyond buildings: it is the public freedoms of all French people that are under attack, more seriously still than the institutions themselves.
The statement expresses solidarity with the mayors, their teams, the residents and the shopkeepers of the towns affected, naming in particular Limoges, Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Calais and Grenoble. It also thanks the police officers and rescue teams mobilised over those days.
Restoring order as the stated priority
For the association, what is at stake goes beyond material damage: “These serious attacks on democratic institutions constitute a real risk for the whole Nation”, the AMF writes, placing at the top of its priorities a return to order, which it sees as the condition for public freedoms to be respected. Municipal relays of the call, published on Sunday by town halls, take the same line: condemn the violence, support the towns affected and defend the institutions, in a spirit of calm and dignity.
In practical terms, residents who wish to take part are invited to come to their town hall this Monday from noon. The call is addressed to elected officials as well as to associations, shopkeepers and all citizens who want to mark, by their presence on the forecourt, their refusal of Saturday's damage and their support for the municipal teams of the towns affected.
