The Great Revelation in France

In the past few days, you may have heard of the situation in France, especially concerning the Finance Minister Jérôme Cahuzac. For those who haven’t, Cahuzac confessed two weeks ago, that he owned a bank account in Switzerland. In December, the online newspaper Mediapart accused him of having this account, but he denied repeatedly, in front of journalists but also in front of the President, the Prime Minister, and the National Assembly. Until Cahuzac’s confession, a big proportion of the French press called Mediapart’s journalists liars. Cahuzac’s case is huge because as the Finance Minister, he held conferences about the fight against the tax evasion, and he is himself a crook. That beats everything!

Jérôme Cahuzac

Euronews

The French President François Hollande wasn’t very popular in the opinion polls even before, but that event, which could be an affair of state, will certainly not help him winning back the trust of the French citizens.

So, he asked all his ministers to declare their inheritance, so that there will be more “transparency” in the government. That is the Great Revelation (and not Revolution!). Some think that this is good (it has already been done in other European countries) but some other think that it is just insane curiosity.

What I think is that this won’t solve any problem. A minister may well declare his or her possessions but that doesn’t prevent him or her from hiding something he or she is not so proud of.

The whole process has now lead to a childish game, consisting of finding out which minister is the richest, which is the poorest. Of course, some of them have colossal fortunes that could help the country in these hard times, but some other just own a decent amount of money. Some analysts said (rightly, I think) that being successful and enjoying the reward of one’s hard work is frowned upon in France. How can somebody find the motivation to create a business, if he or she will some day be called a lousy rich person? I’m not being partial here; this is just common sense. Hard work has to be rewarded.

Since these events, I have even greater respect towards Mediapart, and his creator Edwy Plenel. Before the truth had its day, Mediapart had little support from its fellow journalists and now, these same people are selling tons of newspaper about the affair. Isn’t that a bit too easy?

Thank you Mr. Plenel, good to know that there still are some reliable journalists out there.

Edwy Plenel

PS: if more interested in the topic, I might have some extra information :)