Violence against women: the new French government in trouble

Minister Damien Abad, who oversees Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities, was accused by two women of rape in 2010 and 2011, allegations he has denied.

I have never raped even one woman in my lifehe told reporters Monday night, saying fight these accusations of sexual assault with extreme firmness.

The minister, who himself is disabled, has again ruled out any idea of ​​resignation. Should an innocent person resign? I do not believe.

Mr. Abad is a defector from the right-wing opposition. He was until last week the leader of Les Républicains party representatives in the National Assembly before resigning and entering government.

Two rape complaints have already been closed, but justice says it is reviewing a new report.

Asked after a government meeting on Monday morning, the new spokeswoman, Olivia Grégoire, debated the policy of zero tolerance for sex offenders by President Macron, but left it to the courts to decide this case, despite calls for resignation coming from the leftist opposition.

The government is among those who, following an attack or harassment, have very strong courage to speak outhe says.

But the president’s line is in the judiciary the establishment of truth at justice alone has and can decideadded the speaker.

The affair splashed an executive who was appointed on Friday and is due to enter the working order for the June 12 and 19 legislative elections.

Accusations of violence and sexual assault against politicians in France have gained media coverage in recent years. And celebrities have been forced to leave public life.

New Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who spoke to Mr Abad on Sunday night according to the spokesperson, said she only learned of the allegations on Saturday in an article by online media outlet Mediapart, which revealed the incident.

For the first Council of Ministers of his second five -year term, Mr. Macron called on the government to commit to a new action in substance and formsa in the face of new challenges.

The government you form is paramount […] a government to acthe launched, pointing a new context in the COVID-19 crisis, from which we can hardly emerge if it is really fully donethe war in Ukraine and new challenges for French society.

The new executive must face emergency in a set of intended steps certainly helping all French people reduce their preventable costssaid the spokesman, at a time when prices are rising and economic growth is stabilizing.

This text should be adopted by the government before the legislative election, he said.

The government is in action nearly a month after the re -election of the head of state on April 24 and less than three weeks before the legislative election in which Mr. Macron hopes to see his Renaissance party and its allies centered on winning outright. majority in the new Assembly.

According to a poll published on Monday, the president’s majority and an alliance of leftist parties under the leadership of radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon are neck and neck in front of the far-right RN party, which garnered 28 %, 27 respectively % % and 21 % of voting intentions in the first round.

The fate of the new government depends on the outcome of the ballot, in which half of its members, including the prime minister, are candidates and will have to leave it if they are defeated, under the directive released by Emmanuel Macron in 2017.

Among the new faces, that of the Minister of Education, the academic of Senegalese father and French mother, Pap Ndiaye, historian of minorities, is in the center of attention.

The only real surprise of the new executive, his appointment caused a shout in the far right, accusing him wants to deconstruct the country.

His detractors notably criticized the 2017 statements in the newspaper the worldwhere he defined a structural racism in France.