First Council of Ministers, Monday May 23, and first crisis to manage for Elisabeth Borne with the Damien Abad case: the new Minister of Solidarity is accused of rape and sexual assault. The alleged facts date back to 2010 and 2011 and Damien Abad disputes them “with the greatest strength”. Two women accuse him of rape, the first had filed a complaint twice, two complaints dismissed in 2012 and 2017 for lack of “characterized offense”; the other woman only reported herself on May 13, ten days ago, to the Observatory of Sexual and Sexist Violence, an association born from the MeToo movement which indicates that it alerted La République en Marche and Republicans by email.
>> What we know about the rape charges against Damien Abad, the new Minister of Solidarity
Elisabeth Borne certifies that she was not aware and that she would not have learned of these accusations until Saturday when reading the Mediapart site. And it’s quite plausible. The association’s alert email only arrived at La République en Marche on May 16, followed by a follow-up on the 19th, a few hours before the appointment of Damien Abad. The boss of the party, Stanislas Guérini, said he only learned about it on Saturday. In short, the accusation was able to escape the Prime Minister until this weekend. What is more surprising, on the other hand, is that no one was aware of the complaints, admittedly closed without follow-up, in 2012 then 2017. This episode could have warned the head of government. It should be noted, moreover, that these accusations did not prevent Damien Abad from being supported by Les Républicains, who made him a deputy for Ain, first then, outright, the president of their group in the Assembly.
Will Damien Abad be able to remain a member of the government? It seems very unlikely. Elisabeth Borne was clear: any new procedural act would lead her to draw the consequences. The report of the second accuser has been transmitted to the public prosecutor and any initiative on his part will therefore cause the immediate departure of Damien Abad.
Elisabeth Borne’s very clear reaction leaves little room for doubt. It also illustrates that this time, the majority understood that after MeToo, times have changed. Even if Damien Abad ends up being completely cleared, the only accusation of sexual assault now makes it impossible to exercise a ministerial function. Especially since the leader of the LR deputies was a political catch of choice for the executive. Three weeks before the first round of legislative elections, it has become a burden that risks weighing down the majority campaign.