Le Figaro Bordeaux
Events quickly degenerated. This Wednesday, April 10, demonstrators burst into the room where the municipal council of Cambo-les-Bains (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) was taking place, in order to demonstrate their opposition to a real estate project which plans to artificialize several hectares on the plateau of Marienia to build housing there. The intrusion caused a stampede, during which the mayor was injured.
“Around fifty demonstrators came to disrupt”
the
“smooth running”
of the municipal council, says Julien Charles, the prefect of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, in a press release. Unable to continue in good conditions because of the
“ruckus generated by the use of bells, sticks, and brooms with the aim of disrupting the holding of the council”
, according to the details of the Center & Indépendants group, the mayor of the town, Christian Devèze therefore decided to adjourn the session around 10:10 p.m.
“Attempts at intimidation”
“Present in the council room, the demonstrators then intervened, making it impossible for the members of the municipal council to leave, and generating a stampede during which the mayor fell and was slightly injured
,” specifies the prefect, who
“ provides support”
to the mayor and members of the municipal council,
“whose proper functioning has been seriously hampered”
.
The prefecture
“firmly condemns the attempts at intimidation suffered by the elected representatives of the Republic, which culminated this evening in a tense situation leading to a stampede and the fall to the ground of the first magistrate of the commune”
. The Center & Indépendants group in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, of which Christian Devèze is a member, even affirms that the mayor
“was the victim of a physical attack which required his evacuation to the Bayonne hospital”
.
“Crazy people who are ruining municipal life”
According to the centrist group, this interruption of the municipal council
“represents not only an unacceptable attack on the physical integrity of our elected officials but also a serious obstacle to the proper democratic functioning of our institutions”
. Neo-Aquitaine centrist elected officials add that
“political or social disagreements must be resolved through dialogue and within the framework of established democratic procedures”
. They condemn
“with the greatest firmness these acts of violence against a representative of the people”
.
On
The elected official from Bayonne believes that
“even a legitimate claim does not justify the use of violence”
, because
“democracy depends on it”
. Max Brisson, senator (Les Républicains) of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, judges that
“the madmen who have been ruining municipal life in Cambo for several months have crossed the line”.