"It says a lot about the behavior of the President of the Republic (who) cannot resist doing a good job (...) even (with) a profile which he knew could pose a problem", added the far-right finalist in the presidential election, during a press conference in Marseille on the legislative elections.

"As he does not wish to resign from the post (...) it is up to others than him to decide," she added.

The appointment of Damien Abad as Minister of Solidarity is also "a little incompatible with the importance that Emmanuel Macron said he attached to the defense of women", according to Marine Le Pen.

"It's a kind of common fault" because Damien Abad "was known within his own group (LR) for having multiplied inappropriate behavior or remarks towards women".

So when Christian Jacob, president of LR, had him elected president of the group, "by twisting the arm of the LR deputies", he "already bore some responsibility", and it is "difficult to imagine that neither Emmanuel Macron (…) nor Elisabeth Borne could at least hear about these behaviors”, developed the deputy RN.

The First Secretary of the PS Olivier Faure wished him on France Inter Monday the departure of the government of Damien Abad, "pending a court decision", calling for "respecting the voice of women".

Mr. Faure mentioned a "precautionary measure" which "does not call into question the presumption of innocence".

For Sandrine Rousseau, finalist in the EELV primary, "the question is not his resignation, but the fact that he is dismissed from his post as a precautionary principle".

"We have to send a strong enough message to women, that their word counts. It's not just a rumor, there is a complaint that has been filed," she added on RTL.

For his part, Eric Zemmour said on Cnews "doubtful about the methods of Mediapart which seeks permanent information", positioning himself against "the precautionary principle" but in favor of "respect for the presumption of innocence " .

Christian Jacob, President LR, assured Le Point that he had "never been seized, neither by the Observatory of Sexual and Sexist Violence nor by the services of the National Assembly".

He stressed that faced with "rumors of a complaint filed (...) in 2017", Mr. Abad "replied that all of this was false and that he had never been summoned by the courts" .

Appointed Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Disabled People, Mr. Abad, himself disabled, faces serious accusations of rape in an article published on Saturday by Médiapart, which he denies "with the greatest force ".

According to Mediapart, two women, whose testimony the newspaper collected, accuse him of rape in 2010 and 2011. A report was made last week to LR, LREM and the justice system which says it is analyzing it.

The Paris prosecutor's office has already dismissed two complaints in 2012 and 2017 from one of the complainants.

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© 2022 AFP