Dupond-Moretti’s arm of honor: “This behavior has no place in the hemicycle”, says Élisabeth Borne
This “behaviour had no place in the hemicycle. Élisabeth Borne condemned the reaction of the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti, who provoked an outcry in the National Assembly on Monday by making two arms of honor in the hemicycle. The head of government told the Keeper of the Seals on Wednesday that his “behaviour had no place in the hemicycle”, AFP learned from those around the Prime Minister. Elisabeth Borne made her remarks during a telephone exchange with her minister, the same source added.
The day before, the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti indeed addressed – twice – an arm of honor to the president of the LR group Olivier Marleix. The right-wing elected representative had just taken the floor and had, like all the opposition groups, castigated the “opportunistic” nature of a bill, tabled by Aurore Bergé (Renaissance) aimed at imposing a sentence of ineligibility on more perpetrators of violence. The text had been tabled in the days following thehe return to the hemicycle of LFI deputy Adrien Quatennens after his conviction for domestic violence.
“Everyone needs to calm down”
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 Élysée Alexis Kohler and, for finish, the Keeper of the Seals.
Éric Dupond-Moretti is suspected of having taken advantage of his position, once at the head of the Ministry of Justice, to settle accounts with magistrates with whom he had had trouble when he was a lawyer, which he dispute. There Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) ordered a trial for the minister but his lawyers appealed.
Stung to the quick, the minister made two arms of honor. Faced with the outcry, he recognized and “regretted” his actions which, according to him, were “not addressed to the deputy Marleix” but to the attack “on the presumption of innocence”. After the incident, several politicians called for the resignation of Eric Dupond-Moretti.
Asked about RTL, Olivier Marleix asked Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to “draw the consequences” of this affair, by sanctioning the minister for this “scandalous gesture”. He deplored an “insult to national representation”. “It would have been a deputy from La France insoumise, he would have been excluded, I have no doubt, for 15 days”, he pointed out.
“Everyone must regain their calm,” demanded for her part on Franceinfo the president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, who intervened with Éric Dupond-Moretti to ask him for an apology.
