Robert Menard 法国最强硬的极右翼市长 [英国媒体]

Robert Menard: France's strongest far-right mayor
By Lucy Ash
BBC News, Beziers

Robert Menard: 法国最强势的极右翼市长



A mayor in the south of France has been accused of turning his city into a laboratory of the far right. But what is driving Robert Menard and why is he becoming the most controversial mayor in the country?

法国南部, 一位市长被指责把他的城市变成了一个极右翼实验室. 是什么驱使他这么做? 他是怎么赢得 "最有争议市长" 这一称号的呢?

Robert Menard used to be a journalist, a socialist and the outspoken founder of an international press group, Reporters Without Borders. But 18 months ago he caused shockwaves by winning the town hall of Beziers, a city of more than 71,000, on a far-right ticket.

Robert Menard, 一位曾经的记者, 社会主义者, 还是着名的国际新闻组织--无国界记者的创始人, 18个月前靠打极右牌赢得了Bezier城的选举, 一座人口71,000的城市, 震惊了社会。

Although he is not Front National himself he came to power with the party's support, and this is now the biggest extreme-right stronghold in France. There are plenty of opponents trying to tear the stronghold down though.

尽管他不是国民阵线  (法国最大的极右翼政党 --译者注) 的成员, 他的当选得到了该党的大力支持, 后者现在是法国极右翼势力最大的堡垒. 当然也有许多反对者妄图将其击倒.

The evening I attend a council meeting, protesters jump up and unfurl posters. "Menard, Beziers doesn't belong to you!" reads one. "We Welcome Refugees!" says another. Many more people are trying to squeeze their way through the heavy wooden doors into the chamber, but policemen hold them back.

那天晚上我参加一个市政会议, 抗议者四处奔走散发传单. "Menard, Bezier不属于你!" 其中的一份传单写道. "我们欢迎难民." 这是另一份传单. 更多的人试图挤过厚重的木门进入大厅, 但警察把他们挡了回去.

Unable to bring the meeting to order, the mayor calls a vote on excluding the media and members of the public. It passes and I am obliged to leave, but fierce arguments are continuing in the courtyard outside.

因为无法恢复会议秩序, 市长只能通过一次投票表决来决定是否驱逐媒体和公众代表. 表决获得了通过, 所以我不得不离开, 但屋外激烈的辩论持续不断.

One of the reasons for the anger is the latest issue of the municipal magazine, which carries on its front cover a news agency photo of refugees in Macedonia and a train with a sign saying "Beziers 3,865km". Another sign in the train window says, "Free schools, accommodation, and benefits for all" and the headline screams "They Are Coming!"

人们愤怒的原因之一是最近一期市政杂志封面上印了一张难民的照片, 这些难民暂住在马其顿, 有一部火车上书标语: "Bezier 3865公里". 车窗上另一个标语写道: "免费的学校, 住宿, 和给所有人的福利". 标题是: "他们来了!"



Agence France-Presse sued the mayor and the town hall in Beziers for misusing its photograph, and accused the mayor of scaremongering. Outside the council meeting copies of the magazine have been torn to shreds and strewn all over the floor like confetti.

法新社以未经许可使用他们照片的理由把市长和Beziers市政厅告上法庭, 并控诉市长制造恐慌. 所以这次在市政府外, 数份杂志被撕成碎纸条并扔的四处飞扬.

When I next catch up with Robert Menard in a flower market on Beziers' main street he seems unperturbed. "We didn't get a chance to chat the other night", he laughs. "It was all a bit rock 'n roll wasn't it?"

当我第二次在一个花鸟市场外碰到Robert Menard时, 他一点都没显示出焦躁的样子. "我们那天晚上没有机会聊一聊." 他哈哈大笑, "那晚是不是像摇滚乐会现场?"

Just before World War One Beziers grew "fabulously rich" thanks to the surrounding vineyards, he says, because they proved resistant to a disease that ruined the grape harvest elsewhere.
But Beziers is now one of the poorest cities in the country - one third of the population lives below the poverty line - and Menard has vowed to return it to its former glory.

他说, 在第一次世界大战前Beziers因为周围的酒庄变得异常富裕, 因为人们发现这里的葡萄对一种疾病免疫, 而后者摧毁了其他地区的葡萄园. 但现在Beziers却变成了法国最贫困的区域之一, 以至于超过1/3的居民生活在贫困线以下. Menard发誓要恢复这个城市以前的荣光.

A lot of his efforts have focused on petty crime and immigration.

他主要针对轻微犯罪和移民.

He has doubled the number of municipal police, and issued them earlier this year with semi-automatic pistols - even though their main concerns are minor offences and traffic violations, and they leave serious crimes and investigations to the police nationale.

他使市政厅的警察数量翻番, 并且在今年早些时候给他们配备了半自动手枪. (法国条子以前不配枪? --译者问?) 即使他们主要工作是针对轻微犯罪和交通违章. 严重的犯罪案件通常由国民警察部队接手.



At the same time, the town was plastered with giant posters of handguns boasting "From now on police officers have a new friend". "A police force which is armed gets respect," Menard tells me.

与此同时, 城里贴出了巨大的宣传画, 主角是一支手枪 "从现在开始警察们有位了新朋友." "警察携带武器, 这使他们得到尊重." Menard告诉我.

"A few years ago we had non-stop anti-social behaviour," says a passer-by clutching a briefcase. "There were fights, people taking drugs on those benches. And for years no-one did anything. Since M. Menard has come, all that's disappeared, and the tourists have come back."

"就在几年前, 我们被接连不断的暴力犯罪搞得头疼不已." 一位夹着手提包的路人告诉我. "到处是斗殴, 长凳上坐着吸毒者. 这么多年来, 没有人做过任何事情. 但Menard来了后这些都得到了改观. 现在游客又回来了.



Menard is also responsible for a Singapore-style ban on spitting and a curfew on children in the streets at night. But some accuse him of "social cleansing" and say his initiatives target the poor.

Menard还引进了新加坡式吐痰禁令, 以及针对少年儿童的宵禁. 不过有些人指责他搞 "社会清洗" 并且主要针对贫困人群.

And there has been ban on satellite dishes, and hanging out washing in the town centre. "This is the south of France!" says Sofia, a young web designer. "What does he expect people to do with wet clothes? Not everyone can afford a tumble dryer."

除此以外, 市政府还禁止了在室外安装卫星天线以及在市中心晾晒衣物. "这里是法国南部!" Sofia抱怨道, 她是一名网页设计. "你要人们怎么处理湿衣服? 不是每个人都买得起干衣机的."

Menard's tough line on immigration is illustrated not only by the "They are coming!" headline but also by a now notorious video.

Menard对移民的强硬态度不仅仅反映在 "他们来了" 上面, 还有一部着名的视频.



It shows Menard marching into an apartment block in one of Beziers' most deprived neighbourhoods, La Deveze. He has a blunt message for some newly arrived Syrian families there - they're not welcome in his town.

视频显示, Menard气宇轩昂的走进一间坐落在Beziers最贫穷地段La Deveze的公寓. 他对一些新来的叙利亚家庭说了一段冷酷的话: 这座城市不欢迎你们.

At first sight the video looks like a spoof. The diminutive mayor is wearing his red, white and blue sash, flanked by burly police in bulletproof vests. There is also a bespectacled translator who speaks a strangulated English reminiscent of the TV comedy Monty Python.

乍一看, 这视频像一出喜剧. 身材矮小的市长戴着红白蓝 (法国国旗色 -- 译者) 绶带, 被一群身着防弹衣的警察簇拥着. 还有一名四眼翻译用卡着脖子的音调模仿着Monty Python的电视喜剧.

But Menard is not joking. He berates a dazed-looking young Syrian man in a yellow T-shirt for breaking into the flat and "stealing the water and electricity".

搞笑归搞笑, Menard可是来真的. 他斥责一名灰头土脸穿着黄体恤的年轻叙利亚人, 不应该在没有得到房主同意的前提下强行进入这间公寓, 并且 "偷水窃电".

"If you don't leave, the police will make you," Menard tells the man, his wife and a small child before moving on to other flats where seven other Syrian families are squatting.

"如果你不离开, 警察就会动手." Menard对这名男子道, 旁边有他的妻子和孩子. 他然后起身前往下一个地点, 那边猫着7个叙利亚家庭.

Ultimately the mayor's attempt to expel the refugees was blocked, as evictions must be ordered by a court. What's more the rent-controlled flats aren't under his jurisdiction. And he said the Syrian children wouldn't be allowed into local schools - if this happened it would be a violation of French law.

不过市长试图赶走难民的企图没有成功, 因为驱逐令必须由法院签发. 最终要的是这些出租公寓不受他管辖. 不过他说这些叙利亚儿童不会被允许就读当地学校, 不然就违法了法国法律.

The video went viral in France. Some approved while others were appalled and accused him of heartlessness - an accusation he rejects. He says his twinning of Beziers with the largely Christian community of Maaloula near Damascus proves he is not against helping Syrians.

这个视频在法国引起了巨大反响. 许多人支持市长的做法, 当然也有人指责Menard冷漠无情, 不过他对这些指责一概否认. 他说他让Beziers和Maaloula--叙利亚首都大马士革附近的一座城市--结成姊妹城市证明他并不反对帮助叙利亚人.

"I liked what you did in la Deveze," one stallholder told Menard as he and I walked through the flower market. "I watched it four times!"

"我喜欢你在La Deveze的做法." 花鸟市场的摊贩告诉Menard. "那个视频我看了4遍."

At the same block of flats, a few weeks after the video was filmed, I meet Hakim, the first man who opened the door in the video. He tells me he was bewildered as well as frightened.

就在那个公寓里, 视频拍摄完数周后, 我碰到了Hakin, 就是视频里开门的男人. 他告诉我他当时懵了.

"I told him I have children - where are we supposed to go?" he says.

"我告诉他我有一堆孩子, 我该上哪呢?" 他问道.

Karim Zenouti, the vice-president of the Beziers mosque, says the flats occupied by the Syrians have been empty for several years.

Karin Zenouti, Beziers清真寺的二住持, 说这家叙利亚人占用的公寓空了好几年.

"We know that the mayor is trying to seduce his electorate, the Front National supporters," he says. "And what are the Frontistes doing? They are spreading fear."

"要我说, 这个市长就在跪舔国民阵线, 因为他们是他的主要支持者." 二住持说, "那国民阵线在干吗? 他们在散布恐慌."

Menard portrays himself as a straight-talker, fighting what he sees as a hypocritical political establishment. His sense of being an outsider may come from his roots in a pied-noir family - the name given to European settlers who once lived in North Africa.

Menard把他本人描述为一个敢于直言的人, 一个挑战虚伪政治的人. 他那种独特的视角可能来自于他的家庭. 他来自于一个生活在北非的欧洲人家庭.

He was nine in 1962 when Algeria became a sovereign state and the family had to leave for France.

1962年阿尔及利亚独立时他9岁, 当时他和家人不得不离开非洲回到法国.

Jean Michel du Plaa, who heads the socialist group in Beziers, argues that Menard has moved even further to the right than the Front National and its leader.

Jean Michel du Plaa, 当地社会主义团体的负责人认为Menard比国民阵线更进一步.

"Marine Le Pen tried to detoxify the Front National," he says "but Robert Menard on the contrary is very comfortable with the extreme of the extreme right."

"Marine Le Pen (国民阵线党首 -- 译者注) 一直试图使国阵变得更亲民," 他说 "但Robert Menard相反, 他非常享受这种极右翼环境."

Beziers has become a political laboratory, he says, and citizens feel "like guinea pigs or lab rats".

Beziers已经变成了一个政治实验室, 他说, 市民感觉像 "试验猪或者小白鼠".

Some complain Menard is publicity mad and only cares about le buzz or making headlines. They now call him "the mayor of Buzziers".

有些人抱怨Menard已经发疯, 只在乎是否出名或者成为新闻头条. 他们现在管他叫 "嗡嗡市长".

Others say there's method in his madness and that his in-your-face, far-right policies may help to make the Front National look moderate on issues like security and immigration. And that just might boost Marine Le Pen's chances in her 2017 bid for the French Presidency.

但有人认为他的疯狂中透露这智慧, 并且他那种写在脸上的极右翼政策反而使国民阵线的安全和移民政策变得温和了, 并可能使Marine Le Pen在2017年问鼎法国总统宝座.