Posted Oct 3, 2022, 6:27 PM
Emmanuel Macron had planned everything: after three weeks of imbroglio on the pension file, he made a video on Monday to once again discuss and relaunch the National Council for Refoundation (CNR), its “political object” intended to reinvigorate democratic life and somewhat forgotten since its launch. A way for him to regain control. But this beautiful scheduling was hit hard by one, then two bad news on the judicial level.
Monday morning, the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) ordered a trial against the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti for illegal taking of interests. Logical follow-up to his indictment in July 2021, he is accused of having wanted to settle accounts with magistrates with whom he had trouble when he was a lawyer, before his appointment Place Vendôme, in July 2020. stormy relations with the magistrates, Eric Dupond-Moretti found the Ministry of Justice after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron last spring.
A little later in the day, another blow for the Elysée: as revealed by FranceTVinfo, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office has indicted Alexis Kohler, secretary general of the Elysée, in the investigation into his links with the shipowner MSC. Closest collaborator of the President of the Republic, Alexis Kohler has been working with Emmanuel Macron since 2014 when the current President of the Republic was appointed to Bercy by François Hollande.
Eric Dupond-Moretti does not resign
The two interested parties did not remain without reacting. Eric Dupond-Moretti’s two lawyers have announced an appeal in cassation, which is delaying the procedure. If the appeal is rejected, it will be the trial, otherwise the cancellation of the procedure. For his part, Alexis Kohler claimed his innocence through his lawyer, Me Dezeuze.
For Eric Dupond-Moretti, as for Alexis Kohler, a resignation is not on the agenda. “Eric Dupond-Moretti has all the confidence of Elisabeth Borne. The question of his resignation does not arise, ”we believe in the entourage of the Prime Minister, who recalls not wanting to comment on a court decision.
The two heads of the executive remain on a firm line first because Eric Dupond-Moretti is not convicted and therefore still presumed innocent. In force since the beginning of the 1990s, at the height of political and financial affairs, the so-called Beregovoy/Balladur case law which wanted a minister under investigation to resign is no longer automatic under Emmanuel Macron. For his implicated ministers (Bayrou, Hulot, de Rugy, Griset, etc.), the President of the Republic has done it on a case-by-case basis.
On the political level, Emmanuel Macron acts as if there were no business. He has always repeated that he does not intend to have his agenda dictated under pressure from judges and the media. Too bad if, in public opinion, the risk is to see these cases do long-term damage by fueling mistrust between the French and their political leaders.
“It’s not good for the general climate, but these two stories don’t have much effect on public opinion. For Eric Dupond-Moretti, his referral to trial will not have much additional impact because his indictment was known. The question will be more sensitive for him if his appeal in cassation is rejected and he goes to trial. It is hard to imagine the Minister of Justice in the dock,” analyzes Bruno Jeanbart, vice-president of OpinionWay.
