Sacred day or day like any other to manifest? This is the question that arises after the decision of the prefecture of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to ban demonstrations, rallies and processions in the district of Lyon where the head of state is expected this Monday, May 8, to pay tribute to the Resistance and Jean Moulin. If these bans are taken at each trip of the head of state since the promulgation of the disputed pension reform, they were this time justified by several political interlocutors, considering that the date of May 8 was somehow untouchable.
In any case, the decision is contested by the CGT of the Rhône and the metropolis of Lyon, which has filed an appeal against the establishment of this perimeter of prohibition of demonstrations. The inter-union had called for a rally to commemorate the social heritage "by defending our pension system" on May 8, near the site where Emmanuel Macron is to go, in the Montluc district. If the ban on demonstrations is not lifted, the CGT said the rally would take place a few streets away.
Let us denounce the usurper Macron who claims to pay tribute to Jean Moulin after paying tribute to Pétain, while methodically destroying the legacy of the National Council of the Resistance
📢 Monday, May 8 in front of the national memorial Prison Montluc at 14 p.m.pic.twitter.com/yx524pAQaQ ⚡🔥
— CGT Énergie Lyon (@CgtLyonEnergie) May 5, 2023
On Friday, the Paris police prefecture also banned demonstrations on the morning of Monday, May 8, in the Champs-Élysées area around the Arc de Triomphe, where Emmanuel Macron is due to go to commemorate the 1945 armistice.
"Jean Moulin would not have banned demonstrations"
Regularly greeted by pots and pans since the promulgation of the pension reform, some members of the government such as Bruno Le Maire spoke Sunday to justify this ban on demonstrations, in the name of "national unity". Because ifthe freedom to demonstrate is considered a fundamental right in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the executive considers that the commemorations of May 8, 1945 must constitute a truce in the protest against the pension reform.
"The freedom to protest is total in our country. It does not exclude respect for the capitulation of Nazi Germany on 8 May 1945 (...) That we protect May 8, 1945 to respect the memory of this historical moment, it seems wise to me, "added the Minister of the Economy, on the set of BFMTV.
An opinion shared by Loïc Signor, spokesman for the presidential party, also on BFMTV: "Casserolades would be perfectly moved around the Arc de Triomphe. May 8, 1945 is a moment of communion, and of national and European unity."
For his part, Xavier Boiston, general secretary of the union Force ouvrière du Rhône, indicated that "Jean Moulin would not have banned demonstrations with the sounds of pots and pans". "Jean Moulin is the symbol of resistance and disobedience to institutions when they take decisions contrary to the interests of the population," he said.
"I don't really like it when you make the great figures of history speak for them. Let us leave Jean Moulin where he is. (...) Let's not speak in his place, "retorted Bruno Le Maire.
A May 8 under high surveillance
These intentions of demonstrations are considered "unacceptable" by Gérard Larcher, the president of the Senate, given the symbol that represents this commemoration, in front of the prison of Montluc where Jean Moulin had been imprisoned after his arrest by the Gestapo. "Dignity is also one of the essential values of the Republic (...) Tomorrow (this Monday, Editor's note) is the time of memory, contemplation and gathering. »
🔴 8-May: calls to demonstrate for Emmanuel Macron's visit to Lyon
🗣️ "This is unacceptable. Tomorrow is the time of remembrance, contemplation and gathering for our country." @gerard_larcher, President of the Senate
📲 #LeGrandJury #La26 @mchantrait pic.twitter.com/9bDDbXfULw
— LCI (@LCI) May 7, 2023
According to our information, in addition to the local police deployed on the spot and mobile guards, 11 companies of CRS will be mobilized in Paris and 13 in Lyon for the visit of the Head of State, a particularly reinforced device. The prefects are doubling their vigilance in terms of security to ensure that the crowd is as far away as possible from the president, especially since his stormy trip to Alsace.
