In October the Fifth Republic will become France's longest-surviving regime since the 1789 Revolution, its 65th anniversary eclipsing the previous record held by the Third Republic. In this first part of a Mediapart series devoted to the issue, Fabien Escalona looks at the unwitting role played in the establishment of the new republic by the attempted coup d'état staged by members of the French military and some senior officials in May 1958. Though the Fifth Republic which emerged later that year was formed without their involvement, this presidential regime owes at least some of its creation to the dramatic political mood caused by the attempted putsch.
In France’s overseas territories and départements, civil servants and other state employees continue to be paid vastly superior salaries compared to what they would receive on the mainland. It is a legacy of what was called the “supplément colonial”, a financial incentive to work in the country’s far-flung colonies. In modern times, the generous remunerations appear in stark contrast to the often dire social and economic conditions of local populations. In this report, one of a four-part series, Julien Sartre travelled to France’s poorest département (county), the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, where almost 80% of the population live in poverty, and where the salaries of the fonctionnaires from the mainland are bumped up by 43%.
Mediapart’s Paris offices, in the capital’s 11th arrondissement, sit above the former site of the cité Lesage-Bullourde, an insalubrious cluster of inhabited buildings and industrial workshops that were demolished in the early 1960s. That prompted Antoine Perraud to delve into the history of the Cité, the foundations of which date back to the end of the 18th century, in a four-part series of articles. Here he focuses on the period of the Second World War, and the German occupation of France, when the Cité’s Jewish population, many of whom had already fled persecution, were rounded up by French police and deported to Nazi death camps.
The July putsch in Niger has placed France, the former colonial ruler, in an impasse with regard to its use of the country as a base for operations against armed jihadist insurgents in the Sahel region. With around 1,500 troops stationed in Niger, which Paris turned to last year as its principal West African ally after being forced to withdraw its military from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, the outcome of the present standoff with the new junta is uncertain. Rémi Carayol reports on how the explosive situation follows a series of blunders in France’s strategy in West Africa, where its presence has become increasingly unpopular.
In the northern suburbs of Paris the urban renovation of a rundown neighbourhood has been put under extra pressure by the construction of the nearby Olympic Village for the 2024 Games. Nearly 300 households, including families with children and the elderly, have to leave their high-rise social housing as soon as possible. And as Jade Lindgaard reports, to accelerate the process some of the offers of alternative housing for the unhappy tenants have not complied with the normal rules.
A preliminary investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations concerning the actor and director, who is perhaps best known for directing the 2019 film 'La Belle Époque', was opened on July 5th by Paris prosecutors. When approached, Nicolas Bedos, who benefits from a presumption of innocence, declined to comment. Four women have spoken to Mediapart about the film director. Marine Turchi reports.
After considerable delays, French president Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister Élisabeth Borne, newly re-confirmed in her role, have carried out a government reshuffle. The main theme is the removal of ministers from a civic society background, who were considered too low-profile. They have instead been replaced by more political appointments in the form of Macron loyalists and Parliamentarians. The prime minister and her team hope this will make the government function more effectively. As for any new political impetus, that will have to wait. Political correspondent Ilyes Ramdani reports.
Many French media outlets continue to harbour clichéd views of life in working class areas and this in turn leads to bias in how events in the country's suburbs – often places of high immigration and poverty - are covered. Many newsroom journalists are unhappy at the persistence of such views, but say they choose to keep silent for fear of being mocked or being accused of a lack of neutrality. Yunnes Abzouz investigates.
French bank BNP Paribas is increasingly under fire from climate activists over its financing of oil and gas companies. In face of the high-profile campaigns, it has issued an advice manual for its staff on how to respond to criticism of its activities at the “family meal” table, such as explaining to a “cousin worried about climate-warming” that the bank in fact supports ending mass fossil fuel extraction. Mediapart has obtained a copy of the guide, which adopts a light-hearted culinary theme, beginning with a chapter entitled ‘appetizer’. But, as Mickaël Correia reports, its questionable claims are so brazen that some might lose their appetite.
French journalist Alain Gresh is a veteran specialist in Middle East affairs, and notably the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A former editor of the monthly review Le Monde diplomatique, Gresh is now editor-in-chief of Orient XXI, an online magazine focussing on the Arab world. In an updated book re-published this month, amid the horrific events in Israel and Gaza, he recounts the history of France’s strategy towards the Israel-Palestine conflict over the past 50 years. In this interview with Mediapart, he analyses the decline of France’s diplomatic status in the Middle East, its realignment with the US approach to the region after decades as an independent broker, and warns of a now widening gulf between France and the Arab world.
