Three days before the first round of legislative elections in France, the spotlight this Thursday morning on the fifth constituency of Ain, in the east of the country. In these industrial and rural valleys, the new Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Disabled People, Damien Abad, is in a perilous situation. Defector – he was president of the right-wing group in the assembly before joining the government of Emmanuel Macron, the outgoing deputy is accused by two women of rape, which he disputes. Charges that have caused confusion in the population.
With our special correspondent in Oyonnax, Lucile Gimberg
This is his first TV since the revelation of the rape charges against him and Damien Abad refutes again. ” I never raped no woman, I’m here to debate “, he answers the journalist from France3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes who questions him.
► Read also : Damien Abad, first thorn in the first Council of Ministers of the Borne government
He is there, Damien Abad, on the set of this local channel to debate with three of his rivals in the running for the post of deputy for the fifth constituency of Ain. But for the past two weeks, the new minister has been very discreet. Public meetings without publicity, press kept away. Since the newspaper Médiapart published the testimonies of two women who accuse him of rape, Damien Abad has been campaigning on the sly.
In Oyonnax, a working-class town in the heart of a valley that lives off the plastics industry, trouble has entered many minds.
” Some people have doubts, others do not believe it, it may penalize it anyway “, reacts Philippe, 61, who lives in a neighboring town. “It’s weird that these stories happen now, isn’t it? “, retorts Sandra, a young nurse installed on a terrace in the city center.
His popularity as an outgoing MP, after two terms, will allow Damien Abad to resist, assures one of his supporters, the president of the association, Fatma Ayache: “cis someone who has been in the field for ten years. He is always present, very active, and carries our voice in Paris and everywhere… He is always listening », Says this mathematics teacher who says she supports « not a personality but a balance sheet “.
“Prostituting yourself for a government post”
He betrayed his political family, replies the one who replaced Damien Abad at short notice as candidate Les Républicains (LR), Julien Martinez. ” The fact that he went from first opponent of Emmanuel Macron to Minister of Emmanuel Macron in 24 hours, troubled everyone. There was a lack of clarity, the feeling of having been a bit shunned “, he tackles.
This Wednesday, June 8, the boss of the LR party made the trip to the Novap factory, near Oyonnax, to support the ambitious 33-year-old municipal councilor. On his arrival, Christian Jacob denounced an attitude ” beyond the imaginable from Damien Abad. And adds to journalists: “ that a president of a parliamentary group uses his position to prostitute himself for a government post is totally perverse, and can only inspire disgust and contempt “.
.@julienmartinez is the only right-wing and center candidate in the 5th constituency of Ain.
He has my full confidence and support because he will be able to represent our values and his department in Parliament.
A pleasure to be with him in Oyonnax at @NovapOfficiel. pic.twitter.com/eizAjvI0Nz
— Christian JACOB (@ChJacob77) June 8, 2022
A political space to take?
Same angle of attack for the far right of Joëlle Nambotin who hopes to recover anti-Macron voters. ” The fact that he is a defector, that he went from LR to Macron overnight, goes badly with Republican voters. As for the new candidate they put in, he is not well known. So that leaves us a space “, Estimates this former photographer pinned a few years ago for publications deemed racist and anti-Semitic on social networks. ” It was humor that was misunderstood “, she evacuates on the market of Ambérieu-en-Bugey where she holds a campaign stand where the face of Marine Le Pen is displayed in large.
And if it was the union of the left which was invited to the second round? In an alley next to the market where she hands out her targeted NUPES leaflets, the rebellious Florence Pisani firmly believes in it. “ The New Popular and Social Union (Nupes) is based on a real dynamic and on a well-founded distress and anger of the people “, she certifies to RFI when a local poll has just placed her in second position in the first round, just after Damien Abad.
For the minister and deputy candidate for a third term in Ain, it will be double or nothing. As for his government colleagues: if he loses in the legislative elections, he will have to leave the government.