French political news: suspensions from the PS, school campaign ban and fuel prices

“There was a referral in July, but I was not aware of it,” assures the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure. The complainant, who accuses the candidate Philippe Brun of acts of “violence” and “harassment”, had referred the matter to the rose party’s anti-harassment and discrimination commission this summer. “It’s a black box”, he assures on this commission, “which does not have to refer to the leadership of the PS”. “The complaint filed in July did not relate to acts of violence, but to industrial tribunal acts,” explains the manager.

Yesterday, the Socialist Party (PS) suspended “as a precaution” the primary candidate, Philippe Brun, for accusations of violence. “It’s something I regret. The PS could have spared itself this affair,” says Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the pink party. “This is an accusation made by an alleged victim, who would have been his partner and whom he fired,” he detailed on Franceinfo.

“I do not have all the details,” assured the manager, recalling that he is not “directly associated with this decision”. “When a woman expresses her pain, her suffering, I believe her,” he insists.

Candidates for the presidential election will, for the first time, be explicitly prohibited from campaigning in classes, from kindergarten to high school, Minister of National Education Édouard Geffray announced on Thursday.

“School is a campaign object, you see, everyone is talking about it”, but “it’s not the place for the campaign”, declared the minister on France 2, announcing the upcoming broadcast of a new circular to this effect.

Candidates “will be able to come outside of class to meet volunteer staff, if people agree to meet them,” he said. “But on the other hand, we won’t see them going around the classes and being photographed with the children.”

“I consider that students aged 10, 12, 13 do not have to see a candidate come into their classroom to campaign,” he insisted, defending “common sense” and the “principle of neutrality of public service”.

Édouard Geffray also assured that this decision had not been taken due to fears of slippage. “Rules are always easier to enforce when they are clear and when they are written,” he explained.

Faced with soaring fuel prices, social discontent is growing. “We understand them,” comments Laure Lavalette, spokesperson for the National Rally (RN). Without encouraging demonstrations: “I am a politician, I call for people to vote for a party. […] I am not sure that we arrive at the same situation.”

The flame party proposes a reduction in VAT from 20% to 5.5%. “We’ve been talking about it for 5 years and the government remains deaf,” laughs the MP from Var, who plans to recover 12 billion euros with this measure. And save money on the European Union and immigration.

Robert Ménard, mayor of Béziers, called this morning on Radio J to “discuss an alliance of the right” so that “we do not allow a deadly RN-LFI dilemma to take hold” in the second round of the presidential election. A path is possible: “we can be reasonable without being soft” affirms Mayor Divers Right.

He calls on the right not to increase the number of candidates to form a common front: “between Bruno Retailleau and David Lisnard, who are both running, there is no difference for ordinary mortals”.

The RN presidential candidate Marine Le Pen affirmed on Wednesday that she would not refrain from “anything” on the budget for 2027 in terms of censorship or not, but that she would do “nothing that could worsen the financial situation” of France.

“I am not stopping myself from doing anything,” said the leader of the National Rally on LCI, when asked whether the government was going to come across this very constrained budget project.

“It will depend on whether (the government) uses 49.3 or not 49.3, whether censorship is voted for or not censorship is voted for,” she added. The government has several tools to pass the budget without a vote, such as article 49.3 of the Constitution or ordinances, which then expose the government to censure.

“There is a very good chance that I will vote against the budget, because I disagree with all of the policies” of the government, she indicated.

However, “I am aware of one thing, which is that we need a budget, even if it is imperfect” so that “we can modify (it)”. And “we will not do anything that could worsen the financial situation” of the country, weighed down by a heavy deficit while debt interest rates are climbing.

Faced with growing public concerns about purchasing power, Sébastien Lecornu asked his ministers on Wednesday to “extend” targeted aid on fuels until December 31.

The initiative comes a few hours after a request made in the Council of Ministers by Emmanuel Macron, for a “total mobilization” of the government on “supply” and “price control” of fuels, reported by government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon.

“The objective is to preserve economic activity, employment and growth, by giving visibility to businesses,” said Mr. Lecornu’s entourage on Wednesday evening.

But also to contain the social anger which is brewing a few months before the presidential election: the rise in prices at the pump has thus provoked calls for demonstrations evoking the Yellow Vest movement, as well as the blocking of oil depots by fishermen in the Mediterranean.