It is the sort of excuse worthy of a shame-faced schoolboy, but the 40-year-old former French trade minister, Thomas Thévenoud, caused astonishment when he blamed his failure to pay rent or taxes on “administration phobia”.
Mr Thévenoud, who was appointed secretary of state for foreign trade after a reshuffle at the end of August, was fired just nine days later after it was discovered he had what was euphemistically described as “problems of conformity with his taxes”.
The magazine Le Canard Enchainé revealed Mr Thévenoud had also failed to pay the rent on his Paris apartment for three years.
Mr Thévenoud had set himself up for a spectacular fall. The minister had been highly critical of Bernard Cazeneuve, fired from an earlier Socialist government, after not declaring money held in a Swiss bank account.
Announcing that Mr Thévenoud would go last week, the French prime minister’s office said there was a problem of “financial irregularities”. Afterwards, the shamed minister admitted “late payments to the tax office”, but said he had since paid up all he owed.
The ex-minister has been asked to leave the Socialist party, but is refusing to give up his parliamentary seat.
The scandal has piled on the political agony for the French president, Francois Hollande, who is not only unpopular but whose Socialist government is facing a vote of confidence next week. – (Guardian service)