Arm of honor of Dupond-Moretti: the executive oscillates between support and condemnation
Both arm of honor carried out Tuesday in the National Assembly by the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, continue to make people react. This Wednesday morning, his government colleague, Gabriel Attal, in a delicate balancing act, both tried to minimize the scope of the gesture and to condemn it.
Asked about BFM TV And RMC, the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, says he “believes” the Keeper of the Seals when he explains that it was not addressed to a particular deputy: “He said that it was a finger of honor to the presumption of innocence and he mimicked the gesture”. “Éric Dupond-Moretti is a complete person. He was attacked personally. He apologized,” he noted. However, “I’m not here to apologize and say it’s no big deal and it’s not a mistake,” he added. “This type of incident, we would do without it, I will not tell you anything else. »
Same position, which oscillates between support and condemnation, with Olivier Véran. Éric Dupond-Moretti “is a whole man, a man of honor, who fights for the rights of victims and who recognizes the freedom to be able to defend himself and in particular the presumption of innocence”, described the government spokesperson, at the microphone of RTL. “He made this gesture that should not be done and he recognized it (…) I note that he apologized twice and it was important that he do so,” he said. . Adding: “We must all be absolutely exemplary, we must stand together and behave even better in the context of a public debate”.
On LCI, Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate for Transport, considered for his part that “it is a gesture that has no place in the hemicycle. The Minister of Justice apologized. It was necessary and he did it. It shows that he regretted this gesture. The important thing is to say that it should not have been done”.
On Tuesday, the deputies had barely begun their speeches at the end of the afternoon when the debates got out of hand. A text on the proposal of Aurore Bergé, president of the majority Renaissance group, aimed to impose a sentence of ineligibility on more perpetrators of violence. But it is criticized by the opposition as an opportunistic reaction to the conviction of the rebellious deputy Adrien Quatennens in December 2022 for violence against his partner.
“Unworthy of your position”
At the podium, the president of the LR group Olivier Marleix invited the majority to “Treat yourself to a session of introspection”. The deputy for Eure-et-Loir did not hesitate to list the convictions, indictments or investigations concerning members of the presidential camp, the deputy Damien Abad, the secretary general of the Elysée Alexis Kohler and, for finish, Éric Dupond-Moretti.
The Keeper of the Seals is suspected of having taken advantage of his position, once at the head of the Ministry of Justice, to settle scores with magistrates with whom he had had trouble when he was a lawyer, which he dispute. The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) ordered a trial for the minister but his lawyers filed an appeal in cassation.
Stung to the quick, the minister made two arms of honor. Faced with the outcry, he recognized and “regretted” his actions which were, according to him, “not addressed to the deputy Marleix” but to the attack “on the presumption of innocence”. “You’ve been around a lot of thugs but it’s more than inappropriate,” corrected Olivier Marleix. It is “unworthy of your function”, launched the president of the LFI group Mathilde Panot, criticizing the members of the presidential camp “who give lessons in maintaining”.
Pressed during points of order on the right as on the left to make amends, the minister ended up presenting his “apologies” to Olivier Marleix “as well as to all the national representation”. The leader of the right-wing deputies asked in a letter to the President of the Assembly for access “to the images of this moment captured by the cameras”. The debates finally resumed after the minister’s apologies, but in a climate that remained stormy.
