The office of France’s National Assembly has referred former minister Aurore Bergé to the courts following accusations of “perjury and false testimony” in a case involving alleged collusion with private day care centres.
“The vote in the assembly’s bureau is purely political. Only the NFP [left-wing New Popular Front] voted in favour of this transmission, against the central bloc, the Republicans (LR), and also LIOT [Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories] (even though they are in the opposition),” Aurore Bergé team told Brussels Signal.
Left-wing MPs claimed that Bergé lied under oath during a parliamentary inquiry on April 30 into the economic model of day cares.
The office of France’s National Assembly has now approved the left-wing MPs’ request to refer the case to the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
Leader of the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party in France’s lower chamber, Mathilde Panot, welcomed the Office decision.
“Following [journalist] Victor Castanet’s revelations, Aurore Bergé will have to answer for having lied before the national representation. An important step. You don’t make friends with lobbies that mistreat children when you’re the Minister responsible for early childhood,” she said on X.
Bergé and her team seem confident that nothing will occur from that transmission and they are even ready to appeal if the judicial decision is taken.
“There is a transmission being made, and only the public prosecutor can decide whether or not legal proceedings can be initiated [against Aurore Bergé]. Even if initiated, they can later be dismissed,” they said.
On social media, Aurore Bergé has dismissed the accusations. She accused the left-wing coalition of yielding to the hard-left party LFI’s “baseless” demands.
“The [left-wing coalition] has unsurprisingly decided once again to submit to LFI [hard left party] and its unfounded demand against me” she said.
“The left never ends its political and democratic shipwreck” she commented on social media.
Le NFP – majoritaire au bureau de l’Assemblée nationale – a sans surprise décidé une nouvelle fois de se soumettre à LFI et sa demande infondée à mon encontre.
La gauche n'en finit plus son naufrage politique et démocratique. Next.
— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) October 9, 2024
During the hearings on April 30, Aurore Bergé claimed she had no “personal, intimate or friendly links, or connections” with Elsa Hervy, the General Delegate of Fédération Française des Entreprises de Crèches (FFEC) when she was still a minister for solidarity and family.
However, this claim was challenged by journalist Victor Castanet, author of the investigative book Les Ogres, published on September 18, 2024.
In his book, Castanet allegedly reveals that the private day care system mistreats babies with the protection of the state from the local council to the executive power of the state.
Castanet also reports on an alleged agreement between Bergé, who served as minister for solidarity and families from July 2023 to January 2024, and Elsa Hervy.
It was based on the revelations in Victor Castanet’s book, the Ecologists party and LFI MPs called on the National Assembly to initiate ‘perjury’ proceedings against Aurore Bergé.
Following the book’s release, Bergé announced a defamation lawsuit against Castanet.
“A defamation suit has been filed, and I will not allow my name to be tarnished,” she stated, adding, “What angers me is that the era of suspicion and rumour is prevailing over facts,” she said on October 1.
On October 3, Castanet responded by releasing documents to the press, including emails, that he claims prove the friendly relationship between Bergé and Hervy.
“I have several documents that I intend to make public to demonstrate that there was an agreement between Aurore Bergé and Elsa Hervy to cover up the issue,” Castanet asserted on October 3.
Victor Castanet criticised the then-minister for trying to prevent a parliamentary committee of enquiry into the malfunctioning of private childcare centres.
