THOMAS COEX / AFP
Rachida Dati annoyed by security around Matignon
POLITICS – The hotel of discord. This Wednesday, January 25, the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris Rachida Dati publicly expressed his annoyance at the substantial security system put in place in front of Matignon after the action of environmental activists at the beginning of the year.
On January 4, Last Renovation activists sprayed orange paint on the door of this hotel, the official residence and workplace of the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. They were immediately arrested and the painting erased. From now on, the last proof of this action remains the reinforced police presence. To the chagrin of Rachida Dati.
The borough mayor LR first protests the total closure – “disproportionate” – traffic on a portion of rue de Varenne following the act of the activists. Since then, a filter dam has been put in place to allow pedestrian traffic. “Nevertheless, this system is regularly tightened and access remains too frequently prohibited by the agents present on site”denounces Rachida Dati in a letter addressed to Élisabeth Borne on January 16 and made public on Wednesday.
I contacted @Elisabeth_Borne 10 days ago on this unacceptable situation for residents and traders… https://t.co/H92jQtoU09
— Rachida Dati ن (@datirachida)
“At the head of the passerby”
Mayor LR highlights the question of “pedestrian safety” as well as the difficulties encountered by local residents and also by traders. His grievances echo a petition launched by residents of the neighborhood and signed by more than 1,000 people in a few days, according to our colleagues from Marianne who relay it.
Asked by the weekly, several residents or traders in the neighborhood mentioned “elderly people forced to make detours”, merchants who notice a “drop in attendance” but also police checks which are sometimes carried out “ at the head of the passer-by”.
“Given these elements, it seems essential to me that a system really guaranteeing the freedom of coming and going of residents and shopkeepers in the rue de Varenne sector be put in place”, claims Rachida Dati to Elisabeth Borne.
Will the complaints of the neighborhood be heard by the tenant of Matignon? At HuffPost, the Prime Minister’s office indicates that it has received the letter from the mayor of the 7th arrondissement and promises a response. No further details at this stage.
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