| The Élysée Palace confirmed yesterday that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had dismissed the 56-year-old Minister for the Development of Overseas Territories and Cooperation with French-speaking Countries Alain Joyande, 56, and the 68-year-old Minister for Paris and the Surroundings, Christian, a day earlier “as punishment for unacceptable behavior.” Blanca. Blanc's department purchased Cuban cigars worth 12 thousand euros, and the minister personally smoked a third of them. And Minister Joyande spent 116.5 thousand budget euros to fly on a chartered private jet to a meeting on the island of Martinique dedicated to eliminating the consequences of the earthquake in Haiti, although he could have bought a ticket on a regular flight. He was also caught illegally obtaining permission to expand his villa in St. Tropez on the Riviera. The journalists exposed the abuses at a time when, in the words of President Sarkozy, “the state must serve as a model for its compatriots hit by the crisis.”
A number of media outlets insist that by dismissing “minor ministers” the president is saving 54-year-old Labor Minister Eric Huerta, who is carrying out an extremely unpopular pension reform (it involves increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 years). The fact is that the wife of the Minister of Labor Florence, as a financial adviser to the richest woman in the country - billionaire Liliane Bettencourt, who heads the perfume and cosmetics empire L'Oreal - suggested to her ways to withdraw tens of millions of euros from taxation. The scandals have caused 64% of French people to view their politicians as “mostly corrupt”, with 55-year-old Sarkozy's own rating falling to a record 26%. Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN | |
