Resignation of Girard, “explosion” of Coffin … A turning point in Paris?

It’s round 3:20 pm this Friday afternoon, when Alice Coffin, elected EELV of the 12th arrondissement “explodes” on the benches of the city corridor. “Shame, shame, shame,” she chants. A number of seconds earlier than, the prefect of police Didier Lallement wished to specific in session a “Republican greeting” to the deal with of Christophe Girard triggering heavy applause from a really giant majority of the meeting. Anne Hidalgo additionally rises to pay tribute to her deputy for tradition, who resigned the night earlier than, on day 1 of the Council of Paris, after an indication below the home windows of the city corridor, to demand the resignation of the elected, heard within the investigation “for rape of minors” which targets the author Gabriel Matzneff. Within the arms of the demonstrators, placards and a banner: “Paris City Hall, welcome to Pedoland”. 24 hours later, Anne Hidalgo goes out of its hinges.

I’ve simply exploded in the midst of the Council of Paris. On the request of Prefect Lallement, virtually the entire meeting stood as much as applaud and pay homage to Christophe Girard. I may solely yell “shame, shame, shame” time and again. That is horrible.

– Alice Coffin (@alicecoffin) July 24, 2020

The mayor, who chairs the assembly for topical points on the time of the “standing ovation”, arms over to her deputy Léa Filoche then bombards a press launch. “I will refer to the courts the serious public insults that have been directed against the town hall of Paris,” broadcasts the mayor. “That’s enough”, she even notes within the introduction with a brand new tone. “I won’t let anything go,” she provides. “She was affected. This press release is more akin to a friend’s reaction than an institutional one, ”we whisper this Monday on the city corridor after a weekend throughout which, Alice Coffin, suffered a veritable surge of hatred on social networks, forcing him to be positioned below police safety. This primary eventful assembly of the Council of Paris post-re-election of Anne Hidalgo did she rock the pink-green alliance and reshuffle the playing cards of a generally high-sounding meeting, lined with codes and traditions the place activism should be? “Content”?

“Militant hysteria” vs “evolving society”

The environmental activist and feminist, Audrey Pulvar esteem in substance. The previous journalist who grew to become assistant to Anne Hidalgo, answerable for agriculture and sustainable meals, stated she was “worried” for the way forward for the municipal majority with the Parisian contemplating that Alice Coffin had “crossed the line”. “Stop cultural McCarthyism”, for his half, reacted to the previous socialist Minister of Tradition Jack Lang.

Family members of the mayor have additionally assured the JDD that the elected 12th represents along with her colleague, Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu, elected EELV of Paris Heart, a “militant hysteria”. “What were they expecting? Yes, they are faithful to their values ​​and their struggles. Alice Coffin is on her line. We have the impression that the ranks of Anne Hidalgo are discovering with whom they campaigned during the second round, ”we say in the halls of the town hall. And to specify: “Alice Coffin won’t settle down and they don’t have the precise to ask her to settle down and to surrender all her years of engagement”.

“Renewed” EELV lists

Small step again. On January 8, 2020, David Belliard, then candidate for mayor of Paris, headed for the forecourt of the City Corridor. On the flip of a dialogue, he congratulates himself. Alice Coffin is about to high to be on her lists within the 12th arrondissement. Unknown to most people, this journalist *, feminist determine, activist, on the forefront of the protection for LGBT + rights, determined to become involved in politics, with out placing apart the militant wrestle.

In David Belliard’s entourage we’re delighted and happy with this new recruit. A sense that has not light. “She has an activist profile, an interesting personality. Our lists have been renewed with another generation, other profiles from activism ”. And a few of which at the moment are in place within the Council. “They are not political pros. They do not have the codes but they represent the society as it is, as it evolves. And that’s very good, ”says one within the entourage of David Belliard, requested by 20 minutes.

On the day of Anne Hidalgo’s official election, July 3, Alice Coffin had already made a primary summons earlier than the official ceremony, recalling on Twitter “the links” between Christophe Girard with Gabriel Matzneff. If the voice had not risen within the village corridor, many elected environmentalists had voted in opposition to the manager of the mayor to oppose this selection. Then, it was Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu’s flip to go as much as the entrance through the demonstration on Thursday. “At the town hall they say that it is a non-subject and therefore we will continue our action at the start of the school year,” she then assured AFP. An excessive amount of for Anne Hidalgo?

“A peripheral event, which is now over”. Actually ?

“I am disgusted. In what democracy do we live where the law is trampled by rumor, confusion and suspicion? “, Anne Hidalgo immediately reacted after the resignation of her” friend “Christophe Girard, in post at the town hall since 2001. The councilor first demanded” an apology “then indicated that she took” note of the fact that the two elected officials sitting in the Greens group on the Paris Council [Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu et Alice Coffin, à l’origine du rassemblement de jeudi] thus placed themselves outside the municipal majority ”. And now, how will the environmentalist and socialist “allies” work collectively?

“There is no problem with the majority. We have been working with environmentalists since 2001, and since the second round we have entered into an alliance with a common program. And nothing changes. What happened on Friday is a peripheral event, which is now over. The majority is perfectly aligned and we will work on municipal action, ”explains Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy to Anne Hidalgo, requested by 20 minutes. Within the halls of the city corridor, nonetheless, others imagine that the “shadow” of those occasions will hover over the subsequent Paris councils and {that a} “backlash” is “not to be excluded”.

“Anne Hidalgo underestimates the impact of the case. She is blinded by her friendship with Christophe Girard. It seems to want to separate itself from an “extremist” fringe however in actual fact, it might minimize itself off from a technology whereas alienating a sure variety of actors, specifically associations, and supporters of civil society who’ve had it. sustained through the marketing campaign, ”we are saying. And to conclude: “The backlash can be violent at the start of the school year”, particularly “if there were new elements in the investigation”.

On the facet of the Greens, we play “appeasement”

Contacted by 20 minutes, neither Alice Coffin, nor Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu will reply to our requests on Monday. “We are still in discussions on how to get out at the top of this sequence”, one signifies among the many Parisian ecologists who “always condemn the signs” and “support their elected officials”. Many repeat that “the time has come for appeasement”. A “necessary” appeasement.

“There is always solidarity in the group. The two elected will not be excluded. And we remain in the majority. Moreover, if we leave the majority, there is no longer a majority for Anne Hidalgo, ”we recall. “We are coming out of a trying campaign, everyone needs to come down. These events shook everyone. But faced with the health, economic and environmental crisis, the task is heavy. This is the last mandate for the climate. People need to cut back a bit, and at the start of the school year, everyone will have to learn to work together ”. A return that was already introduced “busy” for town.

* Alice Coffin was a journalist within the editorial workers of “BalthazarKorab” answerable for the media, within the Tradition division from 2008 to 2015.