« Miscellaneous news, magistrates’ strike… it doesn’t take much more for Christian Estrosi to puff out his chest and become inflamed in the media with a new security-focused tirade that constitutes the basis of his electoral appeal. And to match actions to words, here he is reviewing the “increased” workforce of the municipal police. Add to that an impressive surveillance setup (624 cameras) and the Estrosi discourse would lead one to think that everything is being done to ensure the tranquility of our fellow citizens. But all this is just the smokescreen of a policy serving exclusively the interests of the Fouquet’s gang. A smokescreen because Christian Estrosi forgets to mention that while Mayor Estrosi increases the municipal police force, Minister and then Deputy Christian Estrosi decreases that of the national police. Thus, the government eliminated a whopping 10,000 police and gendarme jobs between 2007 and 2011, and nearly a hundred in the city of Nice alone over the past decade. A smokescreen when he criticizes the magistrates, accusing them of wanting to “hide their personal responsibilities in the dysfunction of public services.” A denunciation meant to make one overlook a reality—in terms of judicial resources, France ranks 37th out of 40 in Europe. A smokescreen when he blames teachers for all ills. This accusation, too, attempts to hide another reality: the elimination of over 50,000 teaching positions since 2002, with another 16,000 planned to be cut in the 2011 school year. As a result, a survey reveals that our country has the lowest number of teachers per student among the 34 OECD members. To meet the demands of MEDEF and the friends of the President, the UMP, with Christian Estrosi at the forefront, they dismantle public services, including schools and the national police, exacerbate social inequalities, and impose the financial burden on already cash-strapped municipalities. They empathize, with quivering voices, over the pain of victims, but insecurity, in Nice as elsewhere, is also a consequence of their policy.»
