French pro-Armenian Pécresse faces racism accusation in political clash

French politician Valérie Pécresse, a prominent pro-Armenian figure and president of the Île-de-France region, has announced plans to file a complaint against Louis Boyard, a lawmaker from the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, after he accused her of racism amid protests over a lack of funding and staffing in France’s national education system.

The verbal clash between the two politicians began on September 23, when Pécresse criticised what she described as LFI’s “use” of high school students during a session of the Île-de-France regional council, Caliber.Az reports, citing French newspaper Le Parisien.

In a post on X, she wrote: “Zero tolerance for the ringleaders and thugs who prevent our high school students from studying and succeeding.”

Her remarks drew an angry response from Boyard, who accused Pécresse of “racism.”

“I saw that on social media she called them gangsters and thugs. I think that if they were her children from a bourgeois family, she would not speak that way. And it is clear that this is racism,” the LFI lawmaker said.

“What I want to tell Ms. Pécresse is that people do not expect her to display class contempt. They do not expect her to display racism. They do not expect her to display paternalism. They expect her to act as a responsible politician,” Boyard added.

Pécresse responded by announcing that she would not let the accusation go unanswered.

“I will not allow myself to be called a racist with impunity by a self-proclaimed fraudster and an open drug dealer,” she said. “That is the example he wants to set for young people.”

Boyard responded in a post published today, writing: “The world has been turned upside down! She calls young people from the neighbourhoods ‘gangsters and thugs,’ and I am the one who will end up in court. Great, Ms. Racist. Do you think it is normal for high school students to have no teachers for mathematics, French or science at the start of the school year?”

The exchange comes as protests over conditions in France’s education system continue. On the previous day, 164 people were detained amid demonstrations and blockades at the entrances to secondary schools. The protests continued today alongside a strike by public-sector workers, with the movement spreading beyond the Paris region to Marseille, Lille, Grenoble, Lyon and Sedan.

Pécresse has previously drawn criticism in Azerbaijan over her activities concerning the Karabakh region. In December 2021, while serving as president of Île-de-France and running as a candidate in France’s presidential election at the time, she illegally visited part of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region that was then under the temporary responsibility of Russian peacekeepers. In Khankendi, she met with representatives of the remnants of Armenian armed formations.

Following the visit, France’s chargé d’affaires in Azerbaijan was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note of protest.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protested against the illegal visit to the French Embassy and reminded that these French citizens, who seriously violated the requirements of the relevant laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan, are responsible in accordance with our national legislation,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said at the time.