It was 8 p.m. in the National Assembly when the chairman of the session, Hugues Renson, spoke, his voice tied with emotion.
“We learned with horror of the terrible attack that took place.
On behalf of the national representation, I would like to salute the memory of the victim ”, launched the elected LREM from Paris.
In the sparse hemicycle, the deputies all rose in a silence which speaks volumes about the astonishment of the political class, after the beheading of the history professor in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines).
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In the avalanche of reactions on social networks, words poured out: "Horror", "barbarism", "nausea" ... "It is an attack on freedom of expression and the values of the Republic.
To attack a professor is to attack all French citizens ”, reacted the President (LREM) of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's anger was also palpable in the face of "the ignoble crime": "In fact the murderer takes himself for the god he claims to be.
He dirties his religion.
And he inflicts hell on all of us having to live with murderers of his kind, ”lamented the leader of rebellious France.
"We will not fold"
Beyond the emotion and indignation, many elected officials assured that the Republic would not "give in", like the Minister of Education, Jean-Michel Blanquer: "Our unity and our firmness are the only answers to the monstrosity of Islamist terrorism.
We will face.
"Xavier Bertrand, the boss (ex LR) of Hauts-de-France, used the same tone:" These terrorists want to silence us, to bring us to our knees.
Let them know that we will not fold ”.
But on the right, the words are even harsher in the reactions of some elected officials.
Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, denounced “five years of submission to Islamism, five years of macabre routine” after the 2015 attacks, before concluding: “When will our country be- he react?
""?
Major speeches must give way to major decisions against terrorism, ”added Christian Jacob, boss of LR.
Even François Fillon left his reserve, in which he has walled himself since 2017, to also ask for an implacable answer: “Barbarism at the corner of the street.
This is where Islamic totalitarianism leads, which I have repeatedly denounced.
No more blindness, no more hindsight.
We all have to act powerfully, ”tweeted the former prime minister.
Finally, on the far right, Marine Le Pen, head of the National Rally, called for "force": "Islamism is waging a war on us: it is by force that we must drive it out of our country.
"