Pension reform: "Mélenchon and his friends are the rentiers of anger," says Olivier Véran

Europe 1 with AFP 11:50 am, March 27, 2023

Government spokesman Olivier Véran denounced Monday the attitude of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and LFI, "rentiers of anger" according to him, who are "ready to undermine our institutions", after the violence in Sainte-Soline this weekend or in the mobilizations against the pension reform.

"Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he is rebellious to police violence, but he is submissive to all other forms of violence and you know why? Because Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his friends are the rentiers of anger, the rentiers of the misery of the little people and they are the shareholders of these forms of violence, "attacked the minister on BFMTV and RMC. Olivier Véran accused them of being "ready to undermine our institutions for the causes they serve".

>> READ ALSO - Sainte-Soline: what to remember from the demonstration against the "basins" in the Deux-Sèvres

Irresponsible participation

He considered "unacceptable" and irresponsible" the participation Saturday in the banned demonstration of Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), against the megabasins, elected officials "essentially of the extreme left, wearing the scarf", who "explain that the problem (of violence) is the police", despite the "presence of hundreds of people who come from abroad to break the policeman", according to him.

A protester is between life and death after violent clashes with the police, whose authorities and organizers deny responsibility amid opposition to a water reservoir project. "It is not an offense to participate in a prohibited demonstration, everyone makes his choice, I think the cause is just," responded on RTL MP Clémence Guetté, who was one of the elected LFI present Saturday.

>> READ ALSO - Mega-basins in the Deux-Sèvres: why this project crystallizes tensions

"We respect the institutions"

"Without the BRAV-M, without this circus, absolutely nothing would happen but a march in the fields," LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said on Twitter. "We respect the institutions, where some try to attack them sometimes with petanque balls, sometimes with angry tweets or sometimes with happenings in the hemicycle, with a continuum between the violence expressed in the National Assembly and that which can be found in the street," lamented Olivier Véran.