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French justice minister acquitted in conflict of interest case

A French court on Wednesday acquitted France's justice minister in a conflict of interest trial that has been an embarrassment for President Emmanuel Macron's government.

Published: 29 November 2023 08:34 CET
Updated: 29 November 2023 16:19 CET
French justice minister acquitted in conflict of interest case
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

Eric Dupond-Moretti, a pugnacious former star defence lawyer, had in 2021 been charged with misusing his position to settle scores with opponents from his legal career.

He stood trial before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), which judges incumbent or former ministers for alleged offences committed while in office.

He is the first sitting French justice minister to have stood trial. Dupond-Moretti’s case related to administrative inquiries on the minister’s watch into three judges.

The three judges had ordered police in 2014 to examine the phone records of dozens of lawyers and magistrates, including Dupond-Moretti, as part of an investigation into former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The judiciary had accused the minister, who also ordered a fourth judge to be investigated in an unrelated case, of a witch hunt, while he retorted that his accusers were “biased”.

The prosecutor in the case had recommended a one-year suspended prison sentence for Dupond-Moretti.

“This is clearly very satisfying,” one of his lawyers, Jacqueline Laffont, told reporters after the verdict.

“This is what we hoped for, and what the law demanded,” she said.

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ELECTIONS

France seeks way out of political ‘fog’ after far-right defeat

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday was to start efforts to extract France from its most severe political uncertainty in decades after the left defeated the far right in elections with no group winning an absolute majority.

Published: 8 July 2024 08:50 CEST
France seeks way out of political 'fog' after far-right defeat

The outcome of the legislative elections, called by Macron three years ahead of schedule in a bid to reshape the political landscape, leaves France without any clear path to forming a new government.

The final result saw the left alliance Nouveau Front Populaire in first place, followed by Macron’s centrists and Marine Le Pen’s far-right in third. However no group has enough seats to form a majority in parliament.

Find the latest on the results here.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is due to submit his resignation to Macron on Monday but has also made clear he is ready to stay on in a caretaker capacity as weeks of political uncertainty loom.

READ ALSO What happens next in France after bombshell election results?

The left is emerging as the biggest group in the new parliament but has yet to even agree on a figure who it would want to be the new prime minister.

The unprecedented situation is taking shape just as Macron is due to be out of the country for most of the week, taking part in the NATO summit in Washington.

“Is this the biggest crisis of the Fifth Republic [ie since 1958]?” asked Gael Sliman, president of the Odoxa polling group.

“Emmanuel Macron wanted clarification with the dissolution, now we are in total uncertainty. A very thick fog.”

After winning the June 30th first round by a clear margin, the results were a major disappointment for the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) of Marine Le Pen, even if her forces are set to boast about their biggest ever contingent in parliament.

Macron’s centrist alliance will have dozens fewer members of parliament, but held up better than expected and could even end in second.

The left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) — formed last month after Macron called snap elections — brought together the centre-left Parti Socialiste, Greens, Communists and the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) in one camp.

Projections by major polling agencies showed the NFP set to be the largest bloc in the new National Assembly with 177 to 198 seats, Macron’s alliance on 152 to 169 seats and the RN on 135 to 145 seats. Final results are expected later on Monday.

That would put no group near the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority and it remains unclear how a new government could be formed.

Macron, who has yet to speak in public about the projections, is calling for “prudence and analysis of the results”, said an aide, asking not to be named.

LFI lawmaker Clementine Autain called on the NFP alliance to gather on Monday to decide on a suitable candidate for prime minister.

In key individual battles, Le Pen’s sister Marie-Caroline narrowly lost out on being a lawmaker, but former president François Hollande will return to frontline politics as a Socialist member of parliament.

Firebrand leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of LFI and the controversial figurehead of the NFP coalition, demanded that the left be allowed to form a government.

Only one week ago, some polls had indicated the RN could win an absolute majority with Le Pen’s 28-year-old lieutenant Jordan Bardella becoming prime minister.

Instead, he expressed fury.

Bardella dubbed the local electoral pacts that saw the left and centrists avoid splitting the anti-RN vote as an “alliance of dishonour”.

He said it had thrown “France into the arms of Jean-Luc Melenchon’s extreme left”.

Le Pen, who wants to launch a fourth bid for the presidency in 2027, declared: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, consequently, our victory has only been delayed.”

The first round saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between centre and left-wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN winning an absolute majority.

This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right “Republican Front” first summoned when Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections.

The question for France now is if this alliance of last resort can support a stable government, dogged by a still substantial RN bloc in parliament led by Le Pen herself as she prepares a 2027 presidential bid.

Risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said there was “no obvious governing majority” in the new parliament.

“It may take many weeks to resolve the muddle while the present government manages current business.”

Follow all the latest election news from France HERE

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