This is information that is reminiscent of the huge attack by the candidate of the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) against François Fillon, then indicted for embezzlement of public funds, during the presidential debate in 2017. Philippe Poutou , three times candidate for the presidency of the Republic, is now a municipal councilor of Bordeaux where he was elected in the opposition.
For several weeks, it has been at the heart of discussions in the city of wine. Indeed, as reported France 3, the former worker at Ford has recruited his wife since last November as a collaborator. Information confirmed by the town hall of Bordeaux. But the elected official from the Bordeaux en Luttes list, which brought together members of the NPA, LFI, yellow vests and citizens, defends himself from any illegality and advances a choice motivated by “practical reasons”.
“We are entitled to two half-time group employees. And for four months, we have renewed one of the two contracts, that of my companion, assumes Philippe Poutou to our colleagues. It’s not that simple to have people who have the time to help and who meet the criteria. We don’t have a team of 20 people around us, we do with the means we have”.
A totally legal job
Still according to him, this operation was carried out in complete “transparency” and legally. It would only be temporary and should only last a few months. He claims to have had the agreement “of the legal services of the communities”. For this work, his partner, a part-time elementary school teacher, would receive around 1,000 euros net per month for this half-time. This work as a collaborator includes “reading, analysis and reflection on the deliberations and the votes, continues the anti-capitalist. It is austere and thankless work”.
VIDEO. “Great debate” of the presidential election: Poutou’s charge against Fillon and Le Pen
If the elected officials of the city of Bordeaux do not openly comment on this decision, the Renaissance deputy for Gironde, Thomas Cazenave, asks that “the employment bans of members of his family for parliamentarians or national and local executives (… ) apply to elected groups”. Very often and openly critical of the use by elected officials of their relatives, the one who now works in the cinema recognizes that “it can bring back a lot of stories, situations that have made noise in politics, but for us, there is nothing immoral about it”.
As a reminder, François Fillon, former Prime Minister, was sentenced last May to one year in prison, a fine of 375,000 euros and ten years of ineligibility in the case of suspicions of fictitious jobs of his wife, Pénélope , who was given a two-year suspended sentence. But the lawyers of the former presidential candidate have announced that their client is appealing in cassation.