The real estate deal was not the only thing. It became also known when he was an MP, Ferrand employed his son in Parliament. Again: not illegal, even though in Macron’s bill hiring relatives will be forbidden. The justification of Ferrand’s staff was a little naive: “It is not easy to find a young man who can read and write without error.”
Last night, the daily Le Monde published
another article [€ paywall], accusing Ferrand of having mixed his private and the public interests a little bit too easily during at least twenty years.
Boomerang
For now, Richard Ferrand can stay a Minister, although the government
“understand[s]
the exasperation of the French”, PM Ferrand said last night on
national tv. This morning, Ferrand said resigning was not an option:
“I am an honest man. I have my conscience with me.” A conscious that already has a price for Macron. His groundbreaking law to clean France’s Augean stables was supposed to be made public next week, but Ferrand’s troubles delayed the presentation by a week.
Macron has not said anything about the matter yet. He was too busy jet setting around Europe (see above). He will certainly be embarrassed. Not only is Ferrand one of his closest confidants, but with the pompous word ‘moralization’, the new President seems to have taken a risk. It is a term that now returns in Macron’s face like a merciless boomerang.