It was hitherto crossed by tactical questions, here it is shaken by cases of sexist and sexual violence. For the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes), the return to school is not a long calm river. After the withdrawal of the rebellious elected Adrien Quatennens, who admitted on Sunday September 18 to having been violent on several occasions with his wife, it is the turn of the ecologist Julien Bayou to be in turmoil after accusations of violence against women.
The affair broke out at the end of the program “C à vous”, on France 5, Monday, September 19. Asked about acts of violence attributed to the deputy of Paris, the elected environmentalist Sandrine Rousseau declared that she had received at her home, “for a very long time, the ex-girlfriend of Julien Bayou”. The latter would have informed him of “behaviours that are likely to break the moral health of women. (…) When I received this woman, she was in a really very depressed state, even very very badly.”
What is Julien Bayou accused of? The content of the accusations brought against the national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts is not publicly known. In July, he had himself revealed to the Figaro that the commission for the fight against sexist and sexual violence of the party had been seized against him. The environmentalist leader then recognized “a painful and difficult breakup”. Tuesday evening, Sandrine Rousseau affirmed that the victim had “attempted suicide a few weeks” after meeting her.
Suspicions of sexist and sexual violence committed by Julien Bayou: we talk about it with @sandrousseau in #ThisYou ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/j8Er4kvwV3
— C to you (@cavousf5) September 19, 2022
The day after the broadcast of the program, the withdrawal of Julien Bayou was decided during a meeting of the environmental group at the National Assembly, which he co-chairs with Cyrielle Chatelain. “He then said that he had not echoed the specific facts (which he is accused of”says Benjamin Lucas, deputy of Yvelines, contacted by franceinfo.
“Julien Bayou asked to be heard by the internal cell at EELV.”
Benjamin Lucas, MP for the environmental groupat franceinfo
After this meeting with all the ecologist deputies, Julien Bayou met Sandrine Rousseau at the National Assembly. The deputy confirmed to franceinfo that the co-president of the group had not recognized, during this interview, acts of violence against one or more ex-companions, which she accused him of the day before. Contacted, the entourage of Julien Bayou did not respond to our requests.
After the revelations of franceinfo on the “withdrawal” of Julien Bayou, Tuesday evening, the environmental deputies published a press release in which they “take note” of this decision. “Given the political and media context, it was complicated to have a peaceful return to parliament without this withdrawal, in order to talk about other things”recognizes MP Marie-Charlotte Garin. “This situation is not worth resigning”is also underlined in the press release.
“It would be regrettable if Julien Bayou draws definitive conclusions even though we do not yet have the final conclusions of the commission.”
Aurélien Taché, ecologist MPon franceinfo
Still co-president of the group, can Julien Bayou then remain national secretary of his party, a position he has held since November 2019? The 42-year-old deputy from Paris sees the pressure increasing within his own political formation. On Tuesday, two members of the executive office of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts asked during a meeting for his withdrawal from the head of the party. “There were two of us, me and Alain Coulombel, to invite Julien Bayou to step back from his duties as national secretary”reported Geraldine Boyer in The Parisian.
For Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, the Bayou affair comes at a particularly delicate moment, two and a half months before a Congress during which the national secretary must legally hand over, because the party does not allow the accumulation of the functions of deputy and of national secretary. Two camps currently oppose on the possibility of reforming or not the statutes of EELV in the weeks to come.
On the one hand, the supporters of Marine Tondelier, co-treasurer of the party, whom many imagine succeeding Julien Bayou, want to accelerate this reform via a referendum. On the other, members of the left wing of the party, including relatives of Sandrine Rousseau, oppose these changes. Are the speeches about Julien Bayou part of this internal quarrel?
“You shouldn’t mix everything up, it’s too serious.”
Marie-Charlotte Garin, ecologist MPat franceinfo
With the Bayou affair, the elected representative of the Rhône mainly evokes “an extremely painful episode collectively”. “It’s normal that we are humanly a little upsetcontinues Benjamin Lucas. This raises a lot of questions that are not necessarily simple.” “It is normal that we are asked to set an example. And the more we talk about gender-based and sexual violence, the less there isassures the ecologist deputy Sophie Taillé-Polian. We just want the testimonials to be taken seriously, so we can focus on the rest.”