French president Emmanuel Macron has refused to accept the resignation of interior minister Laurent Nuñez over the violence and looting during the 17 October protests, the Élysée Palace said. Nuñez offered to quit on Sunday, and Macron kept him in the job.
The Élysée said the police and security forces need steady leadership in the current situation. The left called for Nuñez to go, and Macron is under heavy pressure from the opposition.
In a radio interview this morning, Nuñez said he offered to resign because, as interior minister, he feels responsible for everything that happens on the ground. He admitted mistakes in planning the police deployment for Saturday, and said police lost control in some cities.
Nuñez said that in some places the forces on the ground did not match the number of people in the normal marches, or the number of vandals, looters and far-left activists. In his words, these groups turned the marches into riots. This must not happen again, and future deployments must be planned better, he said.
The violence on Saturday, 17 October, broke out on the fringes of the protests. The Federation of Trade and Distribution (FCD) says about 1,500 businesses were attacked, and it puts the damage at several hundred million euros. In Marseille, officials counted up to 30,000 looters.
The unrest went on into Sunday. Late in the evening there were new clashes in Place de la République in Paris, the centre of the protests in the capital. From Sunday evening to Monday morning, smaller groups looted or tried to loot in Paris, Lyon and Marseille. In Paris alone, police had detained 92 people by about midnight.
On Sunday evening Macron addressed the nation and said those who tried to bring down the Republic would answer for it. "We all feel anger and shame," the president said.
He said the violence on 17 October stemmed from failures in forecasting and intelligence. Two days after the riots, he asked police for new methods to deal with rioters. He also told the prime minister to bring together the parties, unions, local authorities and MPs.
Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu is holding a crisis meeting of ministers at 10:00, his office said. It will discuss the economy and trade, insurance and court cases. At 9:00, a meeting starts at Bercy with retailers, distributors, hoteliers, restaurant owners, banks and insurers, who are to assess the material damage.
The presidential election is 6 months away. Nuñez is due in Marseille, one of the hardest-hit cities.