French conservatives hammer Socialist government over alleged security lapses that enabled attack in Nice
The temptation to push a hard line on security will be huge for likely right-wing candidates in next year’s presidential election as vie with National Front leader Marine Le Pen
Conservative French politicians have wasted no time blaming the Socialist government for lapses that let a gunman drive a heavy truck into a crowd, pushing security back up the political agenda.
With presidential and national elections less than a year away, opposition politicians made little effort to put on shows of national unity seen after other recent attacks.
“We can’t cry for victims every six months ... Soon things are going to have to be said, not for the sake of saying them, but for acting,” conservative former president Nicolas Sarkozy said on visit to Nice on Friday.
We can’t cry for victims every six months ... Soon things are going to have to be said
Security hardliner Christian Estrosi, president of the Riviera region in which Nice lies, asked how the truck could have been able to plough through crowds gathered to watch fireworks on Nice’s beachside Promenade des Anglais, killing at least 84 people.
“As far as I’m concerned, I demand answers, and not the usual stuff,” Estrosi said on BFM TV on Friday morning, questioning whether the government had provided enough national police officers for the fireworks display.
Estrosi, who has warned in the past of a fifth column of “Islamofascists” operating in France, happened to write to President Francois Hollande on the eve of the massacre demanding more funds for police.
As mayor of Nice until last month, Estrosi turned the city into one of France’s most heavily policed with nearly 600 municipal officers and other agents in a city of 342,000 people.
It is also one of the most closely monitored with 1,200 video surveillance cameras in public places.
