Sandra Regol, the vice-president of the environmental group in the National Assembly, estimated on Wednesday that the withdrawal of Julien Bayou, accused of psychological violence by an ex-companion, was “necessary to give a signal” to women.
“Faced with the legitimate questioning of women, feminists, people who have been victims and who feel hurt each time a story of this type comes out in political circles, we have a higher duty, a duty of representativeness” in as “elected by the French people”, explained on franceinfo MP EELV to justify this “collective decision”.
“We are a feminist party”
“We are a feminist party so we put ourselves in complete transparency at the service of women’s voices” and “we have acted that the only way to show that we were not pretending and that we were not hiding was to ‘act a temporary withdrawal of Julien Bayou”, she continued.
“It will be (as long as it is) necessary, it’s not very complicated to step back, it’s just necessary to give a signal”, she added, while specifying that he n has not yet been heard by the internal commission in charge of the file.
Sandra Regol also confirmed that it is co-president Cyrielle Chatelain who “goes alone, instead of going in pairs” to Matignon on Wednesday for an interview with Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. “From the moment the rumor leaves, it is important to be able to clarify for Julien, for his ex-girlfriend”, she added.
“We are not a substitute for justice”
“We are not replacing justice, but there are women who ask to be able to act in complete serenity, our job, our duty, is to allow them that”, also justified the deputy. Tuesday evening, after hours of hesitation, the office of the environmental group in the Assembly decided to suspend Julien Bayou from his duties as co-president.
The pressure was becoming too strong, 24 hours after the accusations of “behaviour likely to break the moral health of women” by EELV deputy Sandrine Rousseau, formulated on a television set.
The former primary finalist said that she had “received a long time” at her home a “very depressed” ex-girlfriend of Julien Bayou. The eco-feminist assured that “they are obviously several” to be concerned by these behaviors, evoking an “ongoing journalistic investigation”.