A French minster who has sprung to the defense of Roman Polanski, the filmmaker who may be extradited to the U.S. from Switzerland because of his sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, is facing calls to resign over his own sexual conduct.
Frederic Mitterand, who is the Culture Minister in the cabinet of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is facing the calls to resign because of the publicity surrounding his 2005 autobiography, titled La Mauvaise Vie (The Bad Life)., in which he describes how he paid to have sex with young men working in brothels in Thailand.
The nephew of former Socialist French President Francois Mitterrand, although not a Socialist himself, the Culture Minister is attracting criticism from the left and right alike and from the French police union which, according to the
Earth Times, is due to ask the public prosecutor in Paris to investigate the 62-year-old Minister on possible charges of soliciting a minor.
However there is nothing in the passages from Mitterand's book that were read out on a TV talk show by Marine Le Pen to indicate that the boys with whom the Minister had sex were minors.
President Sarkozy was apparently aware of the contents of the book written by Mitterand before appointing him to his cabinet in June.
An adviser to the President, Henri Guaino, has argued that Mitterand should not have to resign and has attacked the politicians, more specifically the Socialists in France, who are suggesting that the man whose uncle was French President for 14 years in the 1980s and 1990s may have to resign.
As the
Earth Times reports Marine Le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder and President of the far-right National Front. The fact that it was a member of the Le Pen family who accused him of being a pedophile has prompted Mitterand to state that “To be dragged through the mud by the National Front is an honor”.
And with Benoit Hamon, a spokesman for the French Socialist party, telling Canal-Plus television that it was “unjustifiable and unacceptable” for a minister to be involved in sexual tourism, adding "The question now is if Frederic Mitterand should resign or not", Guaino has, says
Bloomberg, made the following observation:
I find it remarkable to see the Socialists take their political line from the National Front
Guaino also reportedly said on France 2 television:
French political debate sometimes takes on a pathetic form. It's excessive and quite undignified
Nevertheless at least one of Mitterand's cabinet colleagues has not been so supportive of him.
Reuters quotes Labour Minister Xavier Darcos as saying that Mitterand, the father of three sons, should explain his behavior, noting:
There is no judge after him, nobody is pressing charges, he is being criticised for his personal behaviour, moral behaviour
Mitterand, whose admissions Guaino has said will not compromise France's strong opposition to sex tourism, is to appear on French TV on Thursday night to defend himself. It is also being reported by several sources that Mitterand, who has admitted reacting "too emotionally" when he learned that the Swiss authorities had arrested Roman Polanski, has "toned down" the language he has been using to express his support for the French-born film director.
