She spoke a little too quickly.
The president of the Ile-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, publicly mentioned this Wednesday in full session of the regional council the departure of the prefect of police of Paris, Didier Lallement, before retracting.
“With regard to security issues, we will have to wait for the appointment of the new prefect of police”, declared the former LR presidential candidate before being interrupted.
“No, we don't have a departure of the prefect of police announced this summer?
she then asked, before changing her mind.
“I am not in the secret of the gods.
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“You had to see the regional prefect, you would have thought you were in a cartoon, he had his jaw dropping”, slips an elected official.
"I think she blundered, it was so spontaneous," said Annie Lahmer, regional councilor of the Pôle Écologiste group, who "would be delighted if the prefect Lallement went away".
“It is the sign of his political feverishness, judge for his part Céline Malaisé, of the Communist Left group, ecologist and citizen.
In any case, the departure of the prefect would be good news for all local elected officials, who no longer have any possible dialogue with him.
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In the entourage of Valérie Pécresse, we are surprised at the extent of the reactions: “It is information of public notoriety, the prefect of police said himself that he was going to leave soon.
“And we hasten to specify that Valérie Pécresse will inaugurate next Tuesday the transport safety center of Île-de-France, in Paris… in the presence of the prefect Lallement.
To which she will therefore be able to repeat, in person, the expression of this regret launched by way of conclusion this Wednesday: “And all my apologies to the prefect Lallement if I buried him too quickly!
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He wants to quit his job
65-year-old Didier Lallement, criticized for his muscular vision of maintaining order, has been at the head of the Paris police headquarters (PP) since March 2019, after the ransacking of the avenue des Champs-Élysées during of a mobilization of yellow vests.
Implicated for his management of public order during the incidents that occurred around the Stade de France during the recent final of the Football Champions League, the prefect of police admitted "a failure" and imprecise figures on the number of counterfeit tickets or fans without tickets.
Several police sources told AFP that Didier Lallement had already mentioned, long before the Stade de France fiasco, his desire to leave the PP at the end of the summer to return to his original administration, the Cour des accounts, before retiring.
Internally, at the Paris police headquarters, this blunder by Valérie Pécresse is perceived as a "half-ball" as the close departure of Didier Lallement is no longer a secret for anyone.
“He was to leave at the end of August when his contract ends, we are told.
A few months ago he announced that he did not want to extend.
But now, according to our information, a recent Covid contamination from which he is struggling to recover could speed things up.
