The French government has asked local authorities to impose curfews in the cities hit hardest by the violence that followed Saturday's demonstrations, Dagens Nyheter reports. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez submitted his resignation on Monday morning, telling the radio station France Inter that he accepted responsibility for everything that had happened. President Emmanuel Macron rejected the resignation immediately, according to the same outlet.
The unrest left 2,400 people arrested and nearly 1,000 police officers injured, Dagens Nyheter reports. Shops were looted and property destroyed in several cities over the weekend.
Why it matters
The disorder has shaken confidence in the state's ability to keep order, and the political fallout is now reaching the top of the government. Nuñez himself acknowledged that the police lost control, and a mayor quoted by BFMTV described the weekend as an almost total loss of control, saying the security forces had been overwhelmed because they were too few and poorly organised. The episode also raises questions about who was behind the violence, with prosecutors and the interior ministry offering differing accounts.
A resignation refused
Nuñez announced his decision on Monday morning, saying he bore the responsibility for what had occurred. Macron turned the offer down by return, arguing that the country needs steady leadership of the security forces in the current situation, Dagens Nyheter reports.
In a televised address to the nation late on Sunday, Macron said nothing could justify or excuse the violence. He spoke of anger and shame, calling it unbearable to watch the streets of French cities looted, and he called for new measures against those who plundered shops, smashed property and set cars alight. Among the options he raised was banning certain gatherings.
A mayor interviewed by BFMTV was far blunter, telling the channel that France was Europe's shame that day and that nobody was listening to anyone any more. In his view, both the police and the demonstrators had been treated as cannon fodder.
Dispute over who was responsible
Nuñez has pointed to saboteurs who joined the original demonstrators in larger numbers than expected, and he has named what he called the far-left movement as an instigator. Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau told TF1 she could "absolutely not confirm" that those who committed violence in the capital were far-left activists, according to Dagens Nyheter. She said most of those taken into custody were unknown to the authorities, were unwilling to speak to police and made no political demands.
The damage was felt well beyond Paris. In Marseille, the municipality set up a psychological support service for people affected by the violence, with shop staff and business owners considered the hardest hit. A trader in Rennes described trying to stay behind to protect his shop before the situation became too chaotic, saying vandals broke in using paving stones and parasols as weapons. Residents in affected areas told Libération that French cities are used to demonstrations, but that Saturday brought something new: the sense that whole districts had been left unprotected.
Dagens Nyheter also reported the account of a Swede in Paris, Isabell, who said all the grocery shops near her had been destroyed. Svenska Dagbladet quoted a resident surveying the damage who compared the scene to Notre-Dame.
What to watch
All mayors in France have been urged to gather outside their town halls at noon on Monday to condemn what are described as serious attacks on democratic institutions. Whether curfews are actually imposed, and how far Macron goes in restricting assemblies, will be the next test of whether the government can regain the initiative.
