Called to resign, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra calls for an end to “personal attacks”

2024-01-15 14:03:19
Amélie Oudea-Castera leaves the Elysée Palace after the first weekly meeting of Gabriel Attal’s cabinet, in Paris, January 12, 2024. JULIEN MUGUET FOR “LE MONDE”

Faced with calls for resignation, the Minister of Education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, asked, Monday January 15, to close “the personal attacks chapter” about the private schooling of his children, in the hope of extinguishing the first crisis of the Attal government.

First week, first textbook case. Barely promoted to national education, “AOC” is already on the defensive. Forced to justify the registration of her three sons at Stanislas, a prestigious private establishment in the beautiful districts of the capital. Choice motivated by “lots of hours not seriously replaced” in the audience, she explained first. Comments experienced as a provocation by the unions, to the point that the minister immediately beat her guilt, saying ” to regret “ having “could have hurt some teachers”.

It was a wasted effort, because the second salvo did not take long: Sunday evening, the newspaper Release undermined the minister’s defense, contradicted by several testimonies. These deny the alleged absence of teachers and underline the desire of Ms. Oudéa-Castéra to make the eldest of the siblings skip a class.

Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Amélie Oudéa-Castera provokes a lively controversy over the schooling of her children in the private Stanislas establishment

“A lie that disqualifies her”

Revelations which the oppositions did not fail to seize upon to attack the minister. “It’s a lie that disqualifies her from continuing to hold this position”thus affirmed the “rebellious” Manuel Bompard on Franceinfowhile the communist Fabien Roussel estimated on that“it’s time to resign” car “the days pass and the lies accumulate”.

Analysis shared on BFM-TV by Green MP Benjamin Lucasfor whom the minister « in minds ». “She has to leave” for’“send a signal of appeasement to the educational community, which is not doing well”he estimated.

At the other end of the political spectrum, the National Rally deputy Julien Odoul also let loose on LCI against these “ministers who happily lie, like Amélie Oudéa-Castéra”judging that it is already “discredited” et “that she should leave”. His colleague Jean-Philippe Tanguy insisted on BFM-TV and RMC : “If the minister lied, I don’t see how she can continue her public action. »

His rare supporters struggle to hide their embarrassment

“I do not want to go any further into the area of ​​personal life and private life. There are attacks to which I have tried to respond as sincerely as possible. We must close this chapter of personal attacks and personal life”replied the minister, also responsible for youth and sports, after a visit to the site of the Olympic village of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).

But the rare supporters of the minister struggled to hide their embarrassment, like the government spokesperson, Prisca Thevenot, who kicked in touch on France Inter : “I don’t know if she lied, I’m just saying that she explained why her son went to private school. » Just like the leader of the Renaissance deputies, Sylvain Maillard, who judged on Sud Radio that Ms. Oudéa-Castéra “was very clear” explaining “why she wanted to change” from public to private.

A stone in Emmanuel Macron’s shoe

It is in this context that she must begin meeting the teaching unions, Monday at midday, to discuss the priorities of her ministry, including undoubtedly the subject of absenteeism and replacements. A contact already under the threat of strikes announced for January 25 and February 1.

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This controversy thwarts the plans of the executive, less than a week after a reshuffle supposed to give it new life embodied by Gabriel Attal. Especially since, as the former holder of the national education portfolio, he assured that he would be the « guarantor » from “absolute priority” granted to the school.

The affair is also a stone in the shoes of Emmanuel Macron, who considers that the subject “is part of the reserved domain of the president” and must specify Tuesday evening, during a press conference, how he intends to carry out the “rearmament” of the country, which could be through announcements in terms of education.

The World with AFP