Paris (AFP)

The First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure denounced Wednesday the "serious fault" of the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner for having evoked his private life against the background of the Griveaux case and asked Emmanuel Macron to intervene.

"Christophe Castaner has committed a serious fault. Therefore, it is up to the President of the Republic, guarantor of our institutions, to convene the Minister of the Interior as soon as possible and draw the consequences", stressed the boss of the PS during a press conference at the National Assembly.

The Minister of the Interior aroused the indignation of many political leaders after having declared in the morning on France Inter: "I was surprised to hear Olivier Faure, whom I know well and whom I accompanied in his divorces and his separations. I was amazed at his moral lessons. "

The minister reacted to the words of Olivier Faure who had denounced the day before the "incredible lightness" of Benjamin Griveaux, forced to withdraw his candidacy for mayor of Paris after the dissemination of videos of a sexual nature on social networks.

"This morning a red line has been crossed," said Olivier Faure, a time very close to his former socialist comrade before he joined LREM. "The act of an interior minister seeking to intimidate one of the leaders of the opposition by resorting to innuendoes of his private life is an attack on the basis of democracy. It is not a case personal. It's a matter of principle. "

"Public life requires probity, dignity and respect for the rule of law. In recent days, political life has taken a disturbing turn," added the deputy for Seine-et-Marne.

Faced with the avalanche of criticism, Mr. Castaner reacted himself on Twitter in a message addressed directly to Olivier Faure: "Dear @faureolivier, there was neither threat nor personal attack in my words. We have known each other since long enough to both know that life is not linear. And we have sometimes faced it together. "

npk-jk / dch

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