“If these facts are proven, it is a state scandal,” assures environmentalist deputy Benjamin Lucas

The environmentalist deputy for Yvelines, Benjamin Lucas, requests the creation of a commission of inquiry after accusations of blackmail or corruption of deputies on the part of Gérald Darmanin to obtain the vote on the immigration bill.

“If these facts are proven, it is a state scandal, it is extremely serious”. Guest of franceinfo Wednesday December 13, the environmentalist deputy Benjamin Lucas challenges “the presidential majority and the president of the Assembly” to accept his request, on behalf of his group, for the creation of a commission of inquiry following press reports of suspicions of “blackmail” or “corruption” of deputies from the Ministry of the Interior. “If the minister has nothing to hide, and if his cabinet has nothing to be ashamed of, they have every interest in accepting”says the elected official from Yvelines.

“There have been disturbing revelations in the press about a form of bargaining, gendarmerie barracks against support for the text on the immigration bill”, he explains. Here he refers to statements in several media by his socialist colleague Philippe Brun. The latter says he was contacted by the chief of staff of the Minister of the Interior, who announced to him – confusing him with his namesake, Fabrice Brun (Les Républicains) – that the request for a gendarmerie brigade that he had made for a commune of his constituency was accepted, adding: “you know what the minister expects of you…”

“I believe that the framework of a parliamentary commission of inquiry would shed light both on the practices of the Ministry of the Interior, the office of the Minister of the Interior during this period and on the way in which we guarantee the independence of Parliament and parliamentarians”, says Benjamin Lucas. In fact, it is “of a space of transpartisan Parliament”. This commission “would also be chaired, why not, by a member of the presidential majority”, he imagines.

Moral and democratic question

For him, “there is a moral and democratic question”. “Is everything permitted in the relationship between the executive and Parliament? Is everything possible, including this kind of pressure exerted on parliamentarians? Is all this acceptable? Is it that it is also consistent with the promise of a new world, of an exemplary Republic, that Emmanuel Macron made?”he asks.

The leader of the La France insoumise deputies went further. She went to court on Tuesday “on facts that could be compared to the corruption of elected officials by Gérald Darmanin”. In response, the Minister of the Interior “will file a complaint for defamation and slanderous denunciation”his entourage told Agence Radio France on Wednesday, confirming information from Agence France Presse.

“The minister’s office is used to responding to requests from parliamentarians, as was the case for the deputy Fabrice Brun, deputy of Les Républicains de l’Ardèche, regarding his gendarmerie brigade”, adds the same source. “This real estate project was put together in July 2023 and formally validated in October 2023. It was therefore not during the parliamentary debates on immigration that the decision was taken, but several months before”she assures.