The deputy for the 5th district of the department hopes to be re -elected despite his departure from the Les Républicains party and the rape accusations from which he defends himself.
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Georgette, mother of three, moved to the last rank in the rural home of the small village of Poncin, in Ain. On the back of his jersey, a small text: “When all betrayed, we will remain faithful”. But that Damien Abad, outgoing deputy Les Républicains (LR) of the 5 e district of Ain and Minister of Solidarity and Disability recently, who came Tuesday, June 7, hold a public meeting here, reassures herself : You should not see any message, specifies the young mother. The Poncinoise did not care about the passage of its deputy for LR, a party who took care of conspiciting the President of the Republic relentlessly for five years, in the government. On the contrary, she specifies, “I see the man he is, not the politician”.
Like the small thirty people who came to listen to Mr. Abad in this room, Georgette is already convinced by the man. “Anyway, explains Sabrina, 29 -year -old Poncinoise, he has not really changed his shoulder rifle. The ideas of Emmanuel Macron are not so far from those of the right.”
Caillou in the shoe
However, within the Les Républicains Party, the atmosphere is not exactly in leniency. This “betrayal”, as the executives clams, does not pass. When, Thursday, May 19 in the evening, rumors of a appointment to the government of their group president in the National Assembly are intensifying – they will be confirmed the next day with the official announcement -, Christian Jacob, the president of LR, Do not hesitate for a second: he picks up his phone and confirms to Julien Martinez, a young local elected official of Oyonnax, that he will be a candidate against Damien Abad in the 5 e district of the Ain.
Party late, the new investigation knows, however, that his chances are lean. Too bad, out of the question to leave the outgoing deputy without competitor LR in front of him. A pebble in the shoe of Damien Abad, likely to dilute the right voices. A few days later, it was Mediapart which was increasing an additional blow to the Minister of Solidarity by revealing the testimonies of two young women accusing him of sexual assault, whose ‘One filed a complaint.
When he arrives on Tuesday in the public meeting organized in Poncin, Damien Abad is aware of all this. Less relaxed than usual, the new member of the government knows that he plays big. He who has left his political family will have to lose the election of June 12 and 19, to leave his ministry, as the rule laid down by Emmanuel Macron, without having a land of withdrawal. By agreeing to rally the President of the Republic, the elected official therefore tries a poker. “I play my all-out, I know, I put cards on the table but I assume it because I believe that it is both the risk and the beauty of universal suffrage,” he says .
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