adminCritics have rounded on Hollande and his cabinet over the scandal which saw Jerome Cahuzac – once the minister responsible for tackling tax evasion – charged with tax fraud after he admitted to having an undeclared foreign bank account containing some 600 000 euros.
Criticism has focused on Hollande, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici, but the president has defied calls from the right for a major government reshuffle.
Last Friday far-left parties joined the chorus of outrage, with one-time presidential contender Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Left Front calling for a major demonstration against the government on May 5 – the eve of the first anniversary of Hollande’s election.
“We cannot accept that the humiliated French people . . . do not get involved,” Melenchon told France Info radio. “This was not the failure of one person, this reveals a system that is intrinsically rotten.”
Communist Party chief Pierre Laurent backed the protest call, saying it was time to “mobilise the forces of change” after the “political crisis caused by the Cahuzac scandal”.
The French far-left can count on widespread support in the streets and Melenchon drew tens of thousands of followers to rallies during last year’s election campaign.
The scandal has been the biggest challenge to Hollande since he took office last year after defeating right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy. French newspapers on Friday said no end to the crisis appeared in sight, with daily Liberation headlining its front page: “Hollande under siege”.
The scandal erupted this week after Cahuzac admitted to investigators that he had the account, after repeatedly denying it to the president, in parliament and in media interviews. – AFP.
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