Stuck in legal affairs, Jean-Christophe Lagarde continues to withdraw from national political life. The president of the UDI announced Wednesday to members of his party that he was leaving office and that his successor would be elected on December 10.
This decision is “painful for me, but necessary for all of us” because “I am not in a position to effectively preside over our political movement”, explains in a letter the president of the UDI who calls into question a “judicial surge (… ) carefully prepared” against him. “I have to admit that I can no longer express myself in public to convey our message, our ideas, our project as I have done by your side for eight years”.
Hervé Marseille will act as interim
Jean-Christophe Lagarde, 54, convened a National Bureau on Tuesday which approved this decision, as well as that of “convening an early Congress which will be responsible for electing a new president on December 10”.
Defeated in the June legislative elections by Raquel Garrido (LFI) in Seine-Saint-Denis after four successive terms, he quickly stepped down from his duties at the head of the UDI, whose presidency he had delegated to Senator Hervé Marseille. , without however formally leaving his post. By December 10, Hervé Marseille will exercise “full responsibility for our movement”, adds Jean-Christophe Lagarde.
The false accusations against Garrido and Corbière
“This decision is effective as of today”, specifies the former deputy who has experienced several legal troubles in recent months. He is notably suspected of having granted a fictitious job as a parliamentary assistant to his mother-in-law, a case for which the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office requested a one-year suspended prison sentence against him, accompanied by a deprivation of civil rights of five years. Judgment is expected on December 7.
In addition, one of his former collaborators was indicted in early September in the investigation into the magazine’s false accusations. Point having targeted, during the campaign, the deputies LFI Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière. In March 2021, the boss of the UDI was also placed in police custody after the discovery of several weapons at his home by the police, called for a family dispute. “I will demand justice” from these “multiple unjust and unjustified accusations”, adds Jean-Christophe Lagarde, who has just been elected in Drancy as deputy mayor of the city, his wife Aude Lagarde.