French minister resigns after dinner scandal
A senior French cabinet minister and close ally of President Emmanuel Macron resigned on Tuesday after reports accused him of extravagant state-funded lobster dinners and misusing public housing in a blow to the centrist government.
Francois de Rugy, who was named environment minister in September 2018, announced his departure after a week of revelations from the leftwing website Mediapart.
“The attacks and media lynching targeting my family force me to take the necessary step back,” said de Rugy, who also held the post of minister of state which made him number two in the government after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne was appointed as France’s new environment minister late Tuesday, the Elysee Palace said, however she will not hold the post of minister of state.
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