“It’s not up to the judges to decide who stays in office and who resigns, it’s up to justice,” says RN deputy Sébastien Chenu

“It is not up to the judges to decide who stays in office and who resigns, it is up to justice”, declared Monday, October 3 on franceinfo Sébastien Chenu, spokesperson for the National Rally, vice-president of the National Assembly, after the indictment of the secretary general of the Elysée Alexis Kohler for “illegal taking of interests” in the investigation into his links with the shipowner MSC.

The Élysée announced that he remained in office. “It is not because one is indicted that one must necessarily resign. There is no intangible rule on this”, he added. On the other hand, if after the investigation, Alexis Kohler is found guilty, “Emmanuel Macron will have to take full responsibility for having done this. Emmanuel Macron is taking a risk by maintaining Alexis Kohler and he will have to take it.”

Senior civil servants are made to administer the state. They don’t have to break into the private.”

Sebastien Chenu

franceinfo

Sébastien Chenu denounces “the pantouflage: civil servants who enter the public service and finish or go into the private sector to make money. There are always possibilities of conflicts of interest.”

The elected official believes that the reform of prefects and diplomats will “aggravate“this situation, since in the future “The government will be able to appoint anyone from civil society as a diplomat, ambassador or prefect. All this disorganizes the state. We need a law against revolving door”insisted Sébastien Chenu.

The spokesperson for the National Rally believes that “a Minister of Justice who has to do with justice cannot remain in place”. The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) ordered a trial against the Keeper of the Seals Eric Dupond-Moretti. The Elysée does not comment.

“We cannot be judge and judged. Éric Dupond-Moretti, beyond his nullity, because he is probably the worst Minister of Justice we have known, must return the Seals to the Republic”, says Sébastien Chenu. According to him, “he cannot, being a minister in office, be summoned before the Court of Justice of the Republic”.