French environment minister resigns over extravagance accusations

After ten months in office France's Environment Minister François de Rugy has resigned over a spending scandal. According to French online magazine Mediapart Rugy invited guests to lavish dinners on several occasions at the expense of the state. De Rugy has announced that he will bring an action for libel. Was he condemned prematurely?

Open/close all quotes
Le Figaro (FR) /

Failure to exercise a minimum of restraint

François de Rugy was certainly no role model, Le Figaro stresses:

“In the name of common sense, discernment and that increasingly rare commodity known as tact, we can only be astounded by the recklessness of this minister who demands that the poor mechanic replace his diesel car while he himself profits fully from the state's generosity. If the situation in the country and on the planet is as worrying as the speeches of the parliamentary majority indicate, it's essential to exercise control, and at least a minimum of restraint. In the old days this used to be called: setting an example.”

Causeur (FR) /

Put the tyrannical media in its place

Some media are taking the law into their own hands, political scientist Dominique Reynié warns in an interview with Causeur:

“We are seeing a form of trial emerge, initiated by institutions which have been granted no such legislative powers. Their methods correspond to the worst kind of justice: a purely accusatory justice in which the accused is immediately found guilty and has no means of appeal. ... This press has been consumed by an excess of power. ... We must now ask what forces can counter this power. Where is the constitution that protects against such abuses?”