Sarkozy quits Constitutional Council
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has resigned from the country™s Constitutional Council following a ruling that said he breached spending limits during his 2012 presidential campaign.
On Thursday, Sarkozy quit his post and was required to return 150,000 euros he had spent on his campaign.
The ruling also deprives Sarkozy of the reimbursement of 47.5 percent of total campaign spending he was due under election financing laws.
“After the decision of the Constitutional Council, and facing the seriousness of the situation and the consequences it bears for the opposition and democracy, Nicolas Sarkozy resigns immediately from the Constitutional Council to get his freedom of speech back,” Sarkozy said in a statement.
The former French president has also been under fire over allegations of receiving illegal campaign funding from former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and L™Oreal cosmetics heiress Liliane Bettencourt.
A recent survey conducted by French research firm BVA has also indicated that 70 percent of the French perceive their country™s politicians as corrupt.
The rise in political corruption cases comes as France is also dealing with a struggling economy.
The country has not only been struggling with a worsened economy but it has been also hit by a record high number of 3.26 million jobseekers in April, despite campaign promises by President Francois Hollande to curb the rise in unemployment by the end of 2013.
IA/MHB
Republished with permission from: Press TV
Source: http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/sarkozy-quits-constitutional-council/47867/
