Republican Damien Abad had just been appointed Minister of Solidarity by Macron
The new Minister of Solidarity of the French Government, Damian Abadhas been accused by two women of alleged rapes, a suspicion that clouds the new Executive of Elizabeth Borne and, in particular, one of the most notorious signings for this new stage of Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee.
Abad was the president of The Republicans in the National Assembly, so his leap to the government of a rival party was one of the most important milestones in the list of ministers announced on Friday, which combined continuity with renewal.
One of the women filed a complaint in 2017, alleging that she had had sexual relations with Abad in which he allegedly non-consensual practices. The investigation into these events, which would have occurred more than a decade ago, was closed without further investigation, according to the Médiapart portal.
drugged woman
The second complaint arrived on May 13 at Observatory of Sexist and Sexual Violence in Politicswho transferred the testimony to the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as to Los Republicanos and La República en Marcha (LREM), Macron’s party, according to Franceinfo.
This woman affirms that in 2010 she fell unconscious after having a drink and woke up in her underwear the next day in a hotel room, together with Abad and with the feeling of having been “drugged”.
Damien Abad has denied the alleged abuses attributed to him and has assured, in statements to Médiapart, that all his relationships have been consensual. For now, neither Los Republicanos nor LREM have formally responded to the complaints they would have received from the Observatory.
Related news
The accusations leveled at the new minister of Solidarities, autonomy and disabled people -this is the real name of the portfolio assigned to him by Emanuel Macron- creates an unexpected problem for the president, who had achieved a difficult balance of forces and political sensitivities in the new cabinet a few days before the Parliamentary election, which will be next June 12 and 19.
In said government team, made up of nine men and eight women, Abad represented the moderate right. Until this past Thursday he had been at the head of the parliamentary group of The Republicans, the main opposition party in the National Assembly during the last legislature and natural heir to Chirac and Sarkozy. His presence in the government offset that of other figures more identified with the left.