“I was elected, I made a commitment to serve Paris, I am paid for that, it is my duty to come to the council.
My pleasure, too.
"Christophe Girard, the former deputy of Anne Hidalgo (PS) in charge of culture, does hope to find his way back to the town hall of Paris, as revealed by Le Monde on Tuesday.
The one who had withdrawn from political life during the summer of 2020, following the Matzneff scandal and the rape accusations that had followed, has already participated this Wednesday evening in the district council of the 18th district, which was held in videoconference.
Two days earlier, he had attended a meeting of elected officials from the Paris en Commun group (socialists and related parties) in order to prepare for the next Paris Council (February 2, 3 and 4), at the Town Hall this time .
PODCAST. Christophe Girard case: the fall of a Parisian cultural eminence
Six months after having deserted the hemicycle, Christophe Girard intends, at 64, to return to the town hall as a simple adviser.
"It is natural for me to find my way back to my mandate," he told AFP.
Nothing prevents him ... The preliminary investigation for "rape by person in authority" which targeted him after the accusations of a domestic employee was finally dismissed last November because of the prescription of the alleged facts.
Christophe Girard had resigned from his post of deputy for culture in July after attacks by elected environmentalists from the majority because of his links with the writer Gabriel Matzneff, accused of child crime.
But he can continue to sit as a simple district councilor elected in the 18th arrondissement and as councilor of Paris.
“I am very angry with Christophe Girard.
He is in omnipotence and refuses to take his responsibilities.
I will continue to fight, gets carried away Alice Coffin, adviser (EELV) of Paris and figure of feminism which contributed to its fall.
I hope that those who shamefully stood up to applaud him
(Editor's note: when the Paris police chief Didier Lallement paid tribute to him before the Council after his resignation)
will close the door to him and take clear and rapid decisions so that 'he no longer sits in our Parisian institution.
"
"You have to know how to put the general interest ahead of personal interest"
“In the midst of a debate on sexism, pedophilia and incest, the timing is not right.
We are awaiting clarification from Rémi Féraud, the president of the Paris en Commun group.
It is about the cohesion of the municipal majority, “adds another elected ecologist from the 18th, on condition of anonymity.
Newsletter The essential of 75
A tour of the news in Paris and in the IDF
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
And a Communist to drive the point home: “Christophe Girard was not obliged to dramatize his return.
He knows very well that this is not opportune for the municipal majority.
He says he has the right to himself but the decision is political.
He was hurt narcissistically, but you have to know how to put the general interest before personal interest.
“When asked, Rémi Féraud did not wish to answer our questions.
Paris (18th), this Wednesday.
The feminists of the Grenades collective demand the resignation of Christophe Girard.
LP / Christine Henry
This Wednesday noon, a handful of feminists belonging to the collective "Les Grenades" demonstrated under the windows of the town hall of the 18th and promised a mobilization on the forecourt of the Town Hall on February 2, for the opening of the Council of Paris , which promises to be very tense.
“A complaint closed for statute of limitations is not proof of not guilty.
We demand the resignation of Christophe Girard from all his mandates, ”insists Casiopé, spokesperson for the collective.
A relative of Anne Hidalgo wants to believe that this new episode will not cause a stir within the plural majority.
“The risk is that the attention is focused on Christophe Girard and that he takes a lot of hits.
"
From a well-informed source, the subject was not raised during the meeting of the executive chaired by Anne Hidalgo in the presence of the group presidents of the municipal majority.
"However, Dominique Versini
(Editor's note: the assistant for the rights of the child)
made a long development on violence against children", underlines an elected official.
If the subject has not been addressed publicly, the entourage of the mayor of Paris was to meet on Wednesday evening with Christophe Girard to try to clear the land.
“No one asked me not to participate.
I do not imagine that this discussion can take place ”, he had previously assured about the Council of Paris.
Before adding this Wednesday on Twitter: “It poses a problem of law, justice, democracy and physical integrity for me.
"
It poses a problem of law, justice, democracy and physical integrity for me. I offered to meet the EELV group which accepted the call for dialogue, by Julien Bayou @franceinter a few weeks ago.
His words were not about me but was in principle
- Christophe Girard (@cgirard) January 20, 2021
Anne Hidalgo, who had been accused of having supported her deputy for too long, this time wanted to quickly clarify her position. "If the law has passed, everyone must also take the measure of the moment we are living, and of the hypersensitivity to subjects relating to sexual abuse," she told Le Monde on Tuesday evening. According to her, "we must avoid making people suffer, and, for Christophe, to make himself suffer. As far as I am concerned, I will always be on the side of the victims. "