The appointment this week of former conservative prime minister Alain Juppé to France’s highest constitutional authority, the Constitutional Council, has been met with surprise and controversy. The nomination of Juppé, who was convicted in 2004 over his role in a fraud scam at Paris City Hall, and who is the political mentor of French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, is joined by that of a former minister of Philippe’s government, and also of a conservative senator. As Mediapart political correspondent Ellen Salvi reports, the appointments to the Council, which is supposedly an independent body with ultimate power of decision over the validity of legislation but also that of elections, notably campaign funding, are likely to widen President Emmanuel Macron’s political base, and call into question his vision of the institution.
Former French prime minister and veteran conservative politician Alain Juppé, who was convicted in 2004 for his part in a scam at Paris City Hall, was among three new members appointed this week to replace outgoing members of France’s highest constitutional authority, the Conseil consitutionel.
