Young suburbanites and residents of distressed neighborhoods in France flocked to the streets on May 6 to celebrate the presidential election results. It is more likely that the hated former President Nicolas Sarkozy's loss gave them cause to celebrate even more than the actual win by new President Francois Hollande. One way or another, France was filled with pride and optimism that night. It seemed clear that the future belonged to the suburbs (where the population is typically less affluent). But in the city of Amiens, in northern France, the young people did not even give the new socialist president 100 days of grace. Last Tuesday night, these young folk took to the streets. They burned down a school and some municipal buildings and set cars on fire. Even worse, they shot live fire at police, wounding 17 officers. It turns out that there is no monopoly over riots in France. Sarkozy is gone but the mess remains. The riots were sparked by routine license examinations of neighborhood residents. According to local youth, police officers were disrespectful to them. This was enough to anger an entire neighborhood. Muhammad, a local resident, complained on one of the French television networks that the government was not conducting a proper dialogue with the young residents of the neighborhood. These riots caught France by surprise. August is usually a month of vacation media coverage, of the president and his wife, as well as the other government ministers. (Yes, there are countries that have a whole month dedicated to vacations.) This month was also supposed to be dedicated to counting Olympic medals, not covering riots, especially not with Hollande as president. But France, just like many other countries in the European Union, is very fearful of the economic problems it will no doubt face in September. France is already beginning to feel the recession. Bookstore windows are featuring a book explaining why preventing the recession is impossible, and the weak understand that choosing Hollande promised only one thing, Sarkozy's removal. All other promises are limited. In these situations, the weak absorb the shock first. The weak remain the same people, regardless of whether someone from the Right or the Left is in power at the Elysee Palace. The French weekly newspaper L'Express tried to look for reasons to explain the rioting, and found them once again in the same place. France has a historical issue with its inability to successfully integrate suburban youth and the children of North African immigrants into the broader population. One excuse is the strained relationship between French citizens and law enforcement, which has been a problem since the famous general strike of May 1968, which brought the French economy to a virtual standstill. France can frequently exchange presidents and prime ministers, but its problems don't change. Unemployment is on the rise, immigration continues and immigrants' integration into the republic falters. Add to this the fact that the education system in France, like all the other types of social assistance, has failed to take off again. We can understand why Hollande won by exactly the same margin as those from the Right who celebrated his predecessors, Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac. What happened last week in Amiens could happen tomorrow in every town and suburb in France. Hollande and his new government, headed by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, do not understand this. The only person with any foresight is the new Minister of the Interior, Manuel Valls; perhaps this is for the simple reason that he once served as mayor. The new socialist government's biggest problem is that its slogan, "Preserving the law," can't be its leitmotif. In fact, the socialists were voted in because when they were the opposition, they said the opposite. France has not succeeded in overcoming suburban problems for 40 years now. The problem just gets worse and worse. Far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen took advantage of the Amiens incidents to attack the government. The socialists have to address the problem, in whatever way they deem fit, but their solutions must be effective. Le Pen, leader of the National Front, promised to inherit the government from Hollande. The suburban problem must not be allowed to exacerbate in such a climate, in the face of the difficulties on the way and with the extreme Right knocking at the door. Those who didn't want Sarkozy might, God forbid, get Marine Le Pen.
