The socialist and ecological opposition to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council said on Monday that the LR president of the region Laurent Wauquiez “refused transparency” by not revealing documents requested on an expensive dinner which is the subject of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF).
The “summit dinner”, organized for 90 personalities at the end of June 2022 at the invitation of Laurent Wauquiez in a castle, at a cost of just over 100,000 euros – or more than 1,100 euros per guest, meal and rental included –, drew a barrage of criticism in October, after revelations from Mediapart.
Proof of expenses
The Socialists, Ecologists and Democrats, the first opposition group in the region, recalled Monday in a press release that they had obtained a favorable opinion from the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents (Cada). This, they recall, had given the regional executive a month at the end of January to produce the documents requested by the opposition.
These elected officials notably demanded communication of the list of guests and proof of expenses. They also asked for the list of receptions of this type organized since 2015 and those that could be scheduled.
But they announced on Monday that they had “still not received the documents” while, in the meantime, the PNF opened a preliminary investigation in December “for favouritism, concealment of favoritism and embezzlement of public funds” after the revelations of Mediapart and a report from the EELV group.
An “attack on the conduct of the proceedings initiated”
The reasons for this refusal were set out in a letter dated February 24, communicated to the press by the opposition, in which the regional executive indicates that the communication of these documents “would affect the progress of the procedures initiated”.
“The code of relations between the public and the administration provides that documents, the consultation or communication of which would affect the conduct of proceedings before the courts or operations preliminary to such proceedings, unless authorized by the authority competent, cannot be communicated,” the region insisted to AFP on Monday. “These elected socialists, who are sinking into demagoguery, should finally get to work on issues that concern the inhabitants of our region,” she continues.
“If the president of the region had nothing to reproach himself for, why does he not communicate to us the requested documents? What is he afraid of? “, question for their part the green and socialist elected officials, affirming that “the Auvergnats and the Rhônalpins have more than ever the right to know how the money of the region is used”.