François Bayrou appears from Monday October 16 and for five weeks before the Paris criminal court, in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the MoDem. On the eve of the trial, he received Franceinfo in his large office as High Commissioner for Planning.
François Bayrou himself recognizes this: when the trial begins, he is “hurt”. Not humiliated, but according to him a victim of “political scheme”he is absolutely convinced of it, with the sole aim of “destroy”, of it “dirty“. He who had made the moralization of public life the heart of his political commitment, short-lived Minister of Justice – five weeks in 2017, the day after the first election of Emmanuel Macron – François Bayrou admits this with great bitterness, it has been since “stop”. He appears from Monday October 16 and for five weeks before the Paris criminal court, in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the MoDem
François Bayrou plans to be there, physically, every second of this long trial. Which makes his friends say that he is “obsessed”. But in fact, there he goes “like in war: alone”. François Bayrou forbade his wife and children from coming, for fear of being disturbed by their presence. During the hearing, the current mayor of Pau will have a thought for Marielle de Sarnez. His right arm, a former European MP, died almost three years ago from leukemia. François Bayrou is convinced that the legal proceedings have eaten away at her to the point of death.
Do not turn the trial into a political forum
Justice accuses François Bayrou, as well as the ten other defendants, former executives and centrist elected officials, of being responsible for a fraudulent system: they are suspected of having used European funds between 2005 and 2017 to pay parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the UDF, then the MoDem.
May the order of dismissal that he is innocent console the president of the movement a little. He doesn’t want revenge or vengeance. He even wants to be careful not to turn this trial into a political forum, even if the temptation is great. In 2021, in his tribute speech at the funeral of Marielle de Sarnez, François Bayrou spoke of two forms of courage: the real one, that of people who are afraid, but go there anyway; and the other, the courage of the unconscious, of those who are afraid of nothing. He swears he is more in the second category.
It is his political future that will be decided for five weeks. François Bayrou has completely integrated it. But he spoke about this trial face-to-face with Emmanuel Macron, and sees the outcome as the hope of redemption. When he meets journalists or speaks with friends, he likes to remind us that in 2027, he will not be quite the age of Joe Biden, and that the great men of history have sometimes waited 40 years in the shadows before gaining power.
While preparing for this trial, François Bayrou read and reread a poem by Victor Hugo depicting Napoleon I at the birth of his son: “L‘future ! The future ! The future is mine”, said the father. And the author responds: “No, Sire, the future belongs to no one, it belongs to God.”