The secretary general of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler was indicted for “illegal taking of interests” and Emmanuel Macron immediately renewed his confidence in him. And this for at least two reasons.
>> Indictment of Alexis Kohler: we explain to you what is alleged against the secretary general of the Elysée in the MSC file
The first: the Head of State cannot do without Alexis Kohler, it is his right arm. Better than that, his half! This political couple was formed two years before the victory of 2017, upon the arrival of Emmanuel Macron at the Ministry of the Economy, in Bercy. Since then, everything has gone through Kohler, in terms of government management and the recent presidential campaign. This annoys and sometimes arouses jealousy among ministers and majority leaders. And then Emmanuel Macron does not want to give in to the judges. In his eyes, justice is an authority, but not a power.
An indictment therefore no longer necessarily leads to a resignation, because, in fact, there is no longer any rule. What was called the “Bérégovoy case law”, or Balladur, shattered under this five-year term. Nearly thirty years ago, these two Prime Ministers had decreed that a minister under investigation could not remain in government. This rule has long persisted, but Emmanuel Macron does not comply with it. Since 2017, it is case by case. Some ministers, like François Bayrou, had to leave the government even before being indicted. Another like Alain Griset, in charge of SMEs, remained in office until his conviction for incomplete declaration of his financial situation.
In fact, the main criterion is political and even… media. The greater the pressure, the more difficult it is to stay in place for a minister pointed out, even if he is not guilty of any offense and not even prosecuted: this was the case of François de Rugy forced to resign for a picture of lobster.
In this context, can Alexis Kohler stay in place? Its main asset is undoubtedly the complexity of the alleged facts. He would have approved, more than ten years ago, contracts of a shipowner, MSC, while hiding his family ties with this group founded and directed by cousins of his mother. Eric Dupond-Moretti tries to play on the same rope: the Keeper of the Seals is referred to the Court of Justice of the Republic for having carried out administrative investigations into magistrates with whom he had been in conflict when he was a lawyer. An argument that is not easy to explain by those who demand his resignation… Much less simple in any case than that of those who repeat that a deputy, targeted by a complaint from his wife and who has admitted domestic violence, must return his tricolor scarf .