Minister and at the same time mayor ... Darmanin ensures that he "did not lie to the voters" of Tourcoing

It is an astonishing, even unworthy exception. Elected in the first round of municipal elections in his city of Tourcoing, Gérald Darmanin can remain in his post as Minister of Action and Public Accounts. The elected official of the North thus seems to ignore the instruction drawn up by Emmanuel Macron before the ballot in March. This stipulated that a minister elected mayor should automatically resign from the government. Gérald Darmanin would he have received preferential treatment? He explained this to the “Grand Jury RTL-LCI-Le Figaro” on Sunday. “I did not have a temporary exemption. I went to see the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, asking them for the opportunity to exercise my mandate as mayor. They allowed me for a while ",he said. Behind the scenes, some are whispering that the situation could evolve in the perspective of a reshuffle this summer.

Mayor's allowances paid to the SPA

Gérald Darmanin assures however that he " did not lie to the voters" . "I told them:" I think it is important that there is someone who weighs at the national level in your town " , a bit like Borloo in Valenciennes, because Tourcoing is a city which suffers" , a explained the minister. If he does not consider that it is "necessary to come back" on the non-cumulation of mandates, Gérald Darmanin believes that there was nevertheless good. "I tend to think that what also makes the salt of a politician is to be able to live among his fellow citizens, not to be all Parisians, to be able to carry difficult voices ... As mayor , I continue to do permanence. And I think that these permanence sometimes teach me more than a note from Bercy, ” he slipped. The Minister has certified that he would pay his mayors' allowances to the SPA so as not to combine with those he already receives as a member of the government.

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By making the choice to stay in Bercy, Gérald Darmanin is therefore preparing to manage the heavy economic crisis to come. To cope, the Minister of Action and Public Accounts has already announced the "cancellation" of three billion euros in charges in sectors such as tourism, culture, sport ... For other companies, "Not exempt" and in difficulty, he indicated that they could spread their charges over 36 months. Under these circumstances, Gérald Darmanin warns that the debt will “no doubt” exceed 115% of GDP at the end of the year.

Government "broke the piggy bank"

“In this crisis there is a kind of scissor effect: you spend more and you have less tax revenue. We chose debt against bankruptcy that would have been disastrous, " said the minister who assures that the government " broke the piggy bank " . But then how to repay? By "the path that the President of the Republic has chosen for three years: trust the economic players," summarized Gérald Darmanin. "Growth creates wealth that makes it possible to repay this debt," he said.

At the same time, the former close friend of Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to express his optimism by rejecting any idea of "state bankruptcy" in the face of this massive debt. “We are a serious government. We are making savings and reforms, which at times have made us unpopular, necessary. In peacetime, we have made savings, and thanks to these savings and efforts, we can borrow in wartime on the financial markets and at negative rates , ”he said.

Gérald Darmanin took the opportunity to respond to the opposition, mainly that of the left, which demands the reinstatement of the wealth tax (ISF) - partially removed at the start of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term - or the increase in wages to support economic recovery. The macronist from LR sees in it a "fiscal ideology" . According to him, such measures "kill jobs" . "And everything that kills must be rejected," he swept.