The head of the French right-wing opposition party National Rally, Marine Le Pen, has blasted the government for its “series of failures” as it began to relax the Covid-19 quarantine restrictions.
“This health crisis has revealed the ideological bankruptcy with which our leaders have been leading our country: the bankruptcy of the profit logic in public policy, the bankruptcy of ultra-liberalism, Europeanism, and globalism,” Le Pen told RFI radio.
France has initiated its first phase of easing quarantine restrictions on Monday. State-owned company RATP, which runs the Paris Metro, had warned that it will resume 75 percent of its services, while 60 stations will remain closed. The company also said that the metro will work at just 15 percent of its capacity in an effort to reduce the passenger traffic and allow people to maintain social distancing.
That backfired as many stations quickly became overcrowded and some trains were delayed. Local media reported that the passengers on Line 13, which is one of the busiest in Paris, had to wait for about 40 minutes for the first train to arrive. Similar problems were reported at railway stations.
Writing on social media, Le Pen called the situation at the metro “shameful” and demanded an explanation from the government.
Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne hit back, saying that it is “shameful to try to argue on Twitter when everyone is looking for solutions on the ground,” and that the transport officials will restore the services “as quickly as possible.” Borne later told France Info that RATP will work at its full capacity at the end of the month.
RATP chief Catherine Guillouard explained that the trains arrived late on Line 13 due to the heavy rainfall which took place the previous day, and that the problem was “quickly resolved.”
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