LREM candidate for the legislative elections Jérôme Peyrat, sentenced in 2020 for violence against an ex-companion, announced to AFP on Wednesday to withdraw his candidacy after a series of criticisms in the political class. “I hear that my candidacy for the legislative elections could harm my political family. I withdraw it,” said the former candidate in the 4th constituency of Dordogne. “I invite each and everyone to look precisely at the facts of which I am accused, the court decision and the other decisions taken in this case”, he underlines.
Sentenced in 2020 to a suspended fine of 3,000 euros
Jérôme Peyrat was sentenced in September 2020 to a suspended fine of 3,000 euros in a case of violence against an ex-companion, causing 14 days of ITT. According to France Bleu, his ex-girlfriend had meanwhile been fined 500 and 800 euros for malicious calls and SMS to Jérôme Peyrat and relatives.
“The alliance of bad faith, partisan shortcuts and good conscience has little cost, amplified by digital channels where anonymity competes with the ignorance of second-hand prosecutors, amalgamates an episode of my life on which I explained myself to a great extent, with a violence that is totally foreign to me”, affirms this former adviser to the Elysée in his press release.
His inauguration had caused shocks in the majority
His nomination had caused shocks even in the majority with the dissident candidacy of the outgoing LREM deputy Jacqueline Dubois. It also brought controversy to the LREM general delegate Stanislas Guerini for remarks made on France Info on Wednesday morning.
The LREM manager described Jérôme Peyrat as “an honest man. I do not believe that he is capable of violence against women”, he had estimated: “If I had the conviction or even the suspicion that we are dealing to someone who could be violent and guilty of violence against women, I would never have accepted this investiture”.
— Stanislas Guerini (@StanGuerini) May 18, 2022
“A shame” and “a shipwreck”, denounces a LFI
Words that made the opposition jump, in particular the LFI Mathilde Panot, who denounced a “shame” and a “shipwreck”. “I measure that the comments I made this morning (…) could have offended and hurt”, reacted in the afternoon Stanislas Guerini on Twitter. “I want to reaffirm here with force the total commitment of the presidential majority to support the liberation of women’s speech”.
“To leave no room for ambiguity about our commitments, I spoke with Jérôme Peyrat today, and we agreed together that he withdraw his candidacy”, concludes Stanislas Guerini. In the wake of the MeToo movement, accusations of violence against women have arisen in an unprecedented way in the campaign for the June legislative elections: in addition to the withdrawal of Taha Bouhafs from LFI, several candidates are under fire from critics.