"What has been decided in recent days should have been earlier," said the former head of state in an interview posted Sunday night by the "Parisian".
"If an issue had been found more quickly, this movement would not have had this magnitude," says Francois Hollande about the "yellow vests" in an interview online by Le Parisien , Sunday evening. "We would not have had the excesses we see, alas, Saturday after Saturday," adds the former head of state, whose book The lessons of power will be published Tuesday in paperback edition, with three new chapters including one addressing the crisis of "yellow vests".
"I had made such a decision". "I see that the current government has retreated, but three weeks too late," said Francois Hollande. "During my five years, I had to deal with gangs of rioters at the end of some events, it's difficult to master, but it can be done under the existing laws," he says. "What has been decided in recent days should have been earlier, I would have immediately banned demonstrations in certain places, like the Champs-Elysees.I myself, I made such a decision when the organizers of the demonstrations against Marriage for All had made the request. "
"Not the role" of the army. The former president also criticizes the decision of Emmanuel Macron to mobilize the soldiers of Operation Sentinel to strengthen the safety device against the thugs. "The military forces and especially Sentinel are intended to protect the French and a number of places, including against terrorism, but in no way to act for the maintenance of order," he said. "The army must not be in contact with the protesters, this is neither its role nor its place."