Apart from ministers beaten in the legislative elections or having resigned, he is the only "outgoing" of the new Borne government.
During his transfer of power with Jean-Christophe Combe, who replaces him at the head of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities, the former president of the LR group in the National Assembly regretted "
the despicable slanders
" of which he considers himself the target for several weeks.
The parliamentarian from Ain, a right-wing defector and widely re-elected under the LREM label in his constituency, had been weakened for several weeks by accusations of rape
.
Last week, the Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation against him for attempted rape after the complaint of one of his accusers.
A twist that will have been fatal to him.
Read alsoReshuffle: Damien Abad dismissed from the new government
“
I will not have been given time
”
“
I leave this ministry with great regret.
(…) I will not have been given the time, but until the end, I fully assumed my function as minister
”, he explained in particular during the transfer of power, before thanking Emmanuel Macron , with whom he again “
long
” exchanged yesterday, for his confidence.
"
It seemed preferable (...) that I could defend myself without undermining the action of the government
", he also commented.
The former minister also underlined the "
incredible violence for a human being, for his family and for his relatives of such practices skilfully orchestrated and relayed without media discernment
".
Finally, he made it clear that he would defend himself "
relentlessly
in the face of these "
slanders
".
Damien Abad, who will therefore return to the National Assembly as a deputy of the presidential majority in a month - as required by the legal deadline - also specified that it was important to him to "
continue
" his action in the service to the voters of his constituency by carrying "
loudly and loudly the values
" of his territory in the hemicycle and on the national scene.