“My return is not because I committed an immoral act,” Judge Jerome Cahuzac.

After 10 years of retirement from political life, François Cahusac continues his return to the media scene. Last week, former budget minister François Hollande made a very remarkable political foray in his former constituency of Lot-et-Garonne. Invited this Monday to the microphone of France Inter, the former member of the government of Jean-Marc Ayrault, sentenced for tax fraud in 2018 to four years in prison, two of which were suspended and five years of disqualification from participating in elections, sticks to his line. It is a return that he now considers morally justified, since his sentence has already been served.

“I am clear with myself, I accepted the sentence handed down to me, I served it in full,” he said. “I sought to find a path of redemption for myself, for my loved ones, for those who love me: everyone must judge whether this path is convincing or not, I cannot decide for them,” the former minister continued. Is it possible to reconnect with former voters after lying to the French about hiding accounts abroad? “This return is immoral not because I committed a completely immoral act,” he said.

“I have restored all my rights”

Before moving on to the issue of morality itself, assessing it as “essential” as it is personal. “I would like those who condemn me to think: for what reason should morality be universal? (…) Putin condemns the West as decadent and immoral, this is his morality, not ours.” Along the way, he criticized the former Socialist president’s “responsibility” for the current situation with the Socialist Party and a more general distrust of the political class. “François Hollande also bears some responsibility. Just like the leaders of the PS, who last year signed an agreement to subjugate rebellious France, welcome back, maintaining their positions,” he criticized.

And in conclusion: “If I have my share of responsibility, others must accept theirs.” “I take responsibility for what I did, I paid my debt, does that prohibit me from speaking publicly? I have regained all my rights, so I have the right to think, to express myself, that’s what I do.” How about representing yourself, for example, in the next municipal elections in 2026? “It’s clear that I don’t deny myself anything,” he admitted.