A dry "no" from the opening of the consultations.
The discussions of the executive with the town hall of Paris, one of the twenty departments placed on Thursday under "reinforced surveillance" for possible restrictions from March 6, began with a refusal by Jean Castex.
Read also:
Anne Hidalgo's tactical faux pas
The Prime Minister described Friday as
"nonsense"
the scenario put forward the day before by the socialist executive of the capital: a three-week confinement in Paris and in the inner suburbs at least, to try to
"reopen everything"
in the wake - restaurants, bars and places of culture.
"You know very well that with variants, it is not possible"
to get out of the crisis so quickly, replied the head of government traveling to Nantes (Loire-Atlantique).
Test balloon or serious proposal from the Paris city hall?
This is only a
"hypothesis"
in case the health situation continues to worsen, and not a
"request"
, relativized Friday the first deputy (Socialist Party) Emmanuel Grégoire, during a urgently called press conference.
"All options must be discussed,"
added Anne Hidalgo on Twitter.
Battle of lines
In the entourage of the mayor of Paris, we admit that the first deputy was
"probably a little too affirmative"
in his first speech, Thursday evening on Franceinfo
, "without however advancing a position out of step with the Anne Hidalgo line ”
.
The spokesman of the government, Gabriel Attal, had a good time to ironize Friday on the positioning of the Parisian executive, calling for
"not to play with the nerves of the French".
Behind this confusion between the executive and the town hall of Paris hides a battle of lines.
“Live with” the virus or move towards “zero Covid”?
For the Socialists at the head of the capital, the first strategy is part of a
"defeatist spiral"
which
"only delays"
a third confinement.
"We can not engage for months in a metro-work-sleep model"
, judge Emmanuel Grégoire, opposed to
"half-measures"
with
"questionable results"
.
Hence his rejection of confinement on weekends, such as that decreed on the coast of the Alpes-Maritimes and in the agglomeration of Dunkirk (North).
Jean Castex believes for his part that the temptation of "zero Covid" is a lure.
Thursday evening, the Prime Minister dismissed this call for
"hard and immediate containment"
from those who would thus
"have the hope of getting rid of the virus once and for all."
The entourage of Anne Hidalgo said to have detected a direct reference to her
"hypothesis"
.
The state is criticized for making decisions without consultation.
If now cities do the same, the territorialization we all want will not work
Karl Olive, mayor of poissy (various right)
“This question was put on the table on Thursday morning with Matignon. There is no arm wrestling with the government, ”
insists around Anne Hidalgo, addressing those who see this initiative as a way of establishing itself as a potential rival of Emmanuel Macron, fourteen months before the presidential election.
Surprised by the path envisaged, the right-wing opposition criticized a
"request made without any consultation"
of elected officials in Paris and the region.
“While in Paris, Anne Hidalgo demands strict confinement of Paris!
Always disconnected from what Parisians live
,
”
joked on Twitter the leader of the Republicans (LR) in the capital, Rachida Dati.
In an attempt to extinguish the fire, the mayor of Paris announced a meeting of the mayors of the arrondissement on Monday, before meeting with the prefect of police and the regional health agency (ARS).
To read also:
Delphine Bürkli: "Anne Hidalgo cannot take the place of the executive"
The Parisian executive may stress that local confinement would necessarily integrate the small or even the great crown, mayors of the region denounce an
"individualist"
approach
.
“The state is criticized for making decisions without consultation.
If now cities do the same, the territorialization we all want will not work.
We have to think about the pool of life that does not stop at the borders of Paris, ”
insists the mayor (various right) of Poissy (Yvelines), Karl Olive.
A targeted response at the scale of a city or a department would be
“illusory”
, agrees in this sense the entourage of Valérie Pécresse, president (Libres!) Of the Île-de-France region, where the rate of he incidence rose from 240 to over 310 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in one week.
“Only a regional approach would make sense,
we warn.
But if restrictive measures are necessary, they will have to be measured while taking into account the social and economic imperative. ”
