Richard Ferrand, president of the French National Assembly and a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, has been placed “under formal investigation” – one step short of being indicted – over accusations that he illegally benefited from a property deal.
Mr Ferrand, who had been at the heart of Mr Macron’s successful election campaign, has denied any wrongdoing, and says he will stay in his job, fight the case and prove his innocence.
“The president of the National Assembly is determined to continue with the task entrusted to him by his peers and his voters,” his office said in a statement on Wednesday night.
The statement added that Mr Ferrand remained “calm about the outcome of the procedure” especially “as no new elements have been brought forward in this case where there is neither damage nor victims”.
The allegations against Mr Ferrand first came to light in 2017, embarrassing Mr Macron who had just won the presidency while pledging to clean up French politics and forcing Mr Ferrand to step down as regional cohesion minister in his first cabinet.
The 2017 probe, which was eventually dropped but has now been revived by anti-corruption body Anticor, began after French satirical newspaper Le Canardenchaîné reported a series of claims relating to Mr Ferrand’s role as head of the Mutuelles de Bretagne, a non-profit health insurance fund in the Brittany region, from 1998 to 2012.
One claim was that Mr Ferrand’s partner, Sandrine Doucen, won contracts from the fund and also benefited from a real estate deal that saw her renting commercial space to the organisation while Mr Ferrand was in charge.
Opposition politicians were quick to call for his resignation. Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist party in a tweet on Thursday wrote: “A formal investigation is not itself a sign of guilt but the serenity of public debate assumes that those who exercise public functions to resign while awaiting the decision of the justice system.”
However, Mr Macron’s government has said it continues to support the National Assembly president. “Richard Ferrand is innocent until it is proven otherwise,” the French government’s spokesperson told Europe 1 radio on Thursday morning.
“It is logical that the president maintains his confidence in Ferrand because he is a loyal, upstanding man, who has had, I believe, an exemplary political career,” she added.
The investigation comes on the heels of July resignation of François de Rugy, France’s environment minister, following allegations he entertained friends and guests lavishly at the expense of French taxpayers when he was president of the National Assembly. He was succeeded by Mr Ferrand.
The accusations surrounding Mr de Rugy and Mr Ferrand come at a time when Mr Macron is trying to reconnect with the electorate after anti-government gilets jaunes protests that have dwindled ahead of their one-year anniversary in November.
