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President Emmanuel Macron's energy minister was targeted in France after the revelations of sumptuous dinners he and his wife had organized while running the country's lower house of parliament.
François de Rugy, president of the National Assembly from June 2017 to September 2018, declared himself totally "firm" on his decision to organize a dozen dinners with "guests of civil society" , where $ 550 of Château Cheval Blanc wine bottles, giant lobsters and champagne were served, funded by public funds.
Mediapart, the online investigative media, revealed the dinners in a report including photos and participant accounts. The minister responded in a letter to the media, on the radio earlier in the day and at a press conference at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday.
De Rugy is spearheading Macron's policy to reduce the country's reliance on nuclear power, promote renewable energy and promote cleaner vehicles.
On Tuesday, he and the Minister of Transport, Elisabeth Borne, unveiled a plan to raise 180 million euros ($ 202 million) a year through a new tax on airline tickets departing from France. This initiative aims to replenish state coffers and finance suburban transportation systems.
Calls for resignation
Several lawmakers, including the socialist legislator and former energy minister, Delphine Batho, have asked for his resignation.
De Rugy, whose dinners have been dubbed "The Life of Castle" by Mediapart, will remain at his post, said the spokesman of the French government Sibeth Ndiaye at the end of the weekly meeting of the government.
"The government is very committed to issues of ethics and transparency," said Ndiaye at the press conference. "The details provided by de Rugy show that it was about representations and contacts with civil society," she said, adding that such meetings helped ministers "to nurture their understanding." of the society".
Representative role
De Rugy said that "when you are president of the National Assembly, you have a representative role," quoted a paleontologist, a professor of Political Science School and a head of digital companies, invited dinners organized with his wife, journalist in the brilliant French magazine.
"I say it with force, there were no dinners with friends paid by the National Assembly under my supervision," he said, adding that the wines and the menu were normal at the time. residence of the president of the National Assembly, an eighteenth century residence with gilded interiors.
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