sixty-two years old, Mayor of Nantes since 1989, deputy since 1986 (from the time of the first Mitterrand presidency..), group leader of the socialists at the Assemblée Nationale (the French Chamber) since 1997. Respectable political profile, that of Jean-Marc Ayrault, new prime minister appointed by the President of the Republic François Hollande, which from today takes place in Matignon's chair to François Fillon.
Ayrault was chosen for his valuable curriculum but above all for his deep knowledge of Germany, of which he studied language and culture at the university (and where he also lived for a while), which will surely come in handy for the new tenant of the Elysée in a context in which relations with Berlin – tonight the first meeting with Angela Merkel immediately – promises to be particularly complicated, on the basis of the well-known differences on the vision of the future of Europe. A staunch Germanophile, Ayrault was in fact Hollande's shadow man on delicate German issues already during the electoral campaign, and his appointment therefore takes on a strong diplomatic value.
However, if the new prime minister will be easily exportable, the problems regarding his appointment come instead from within. And they are triggered by one sentence received by Ayrault in 1997 from the court of Nantes to six months in prison with probation and a fine of 30 francs (4.500 euros) for favoritism in the award of a public contract. The mayor of the city in western France was accused of having granted unjustified advantages to the publishing company which had published 'Nantes Passion', the newspaper of the Municipality, from 1989 to 1994.
”My personal honesty has never been in question – the new prime minister vigorously defended himself -: personal enrichment or political financing was never in question. It was a story that didn't concern me personally but for which I was responsible as mayor", added Ayrault, also recalling that "it happened 15 years ago, I have never hidden anything, especially from the citizens of Nantes who in fact re-elected me twice more”. The lawyer Jean-Pierre Mignard also intervened to help his client, who among other things recalled that the sentence was served and therefore "cancelled with the 2007 rehabilitation: no one can therefore invoke it anymore, unless incurring a criminal offense".
However, the problem, raised loudly by the opposition party, the UMP of former president Sarkozy, and by the transalpine press, is that Hollande has made the moralization of public life the strong point of his electoral campaign, assuring in an April 15 interview with Le Journal du Dimanche that he would not take any person subject to investigation or conviction into his staff: “We will ensure that if elected officials, socialists or others, are convicted of acts of corruption, they will not be able to reapply for 10 years. And I will not want anyone judged or condemned around me”, the then candidate of the left had ruled.
Who now, inevitably but only through his spokespersons, is partially reversing: “It was a moment, a distraction – socialist Vincent Peillon, Hollande's close adviser, told Canal + -, and Ayrault took his responsibilities, letting justice take its course and without even appealing”.
Controversial appointment and incandescent climate, precisely on the day of theHollande settlement: the new president's first own goal or simply the swan song of the losers looking for the last foothold to divert attention from the bitter electoral defeat? When in doubt, luckily for Hollande and Ayrault, tonight we fly immediately to Berlin.
