Hervé Gaymard
Hervé Gaymard (born May 31 1960 in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Savoie) is a French politician and a member of UMP conservative party. He served as the country's Minister of Finances from 30 November 2004 until his resignation on 25 February 2005.
Gaymard attended the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and then the École nationale d'administration, graduating from the latter in 1986. After that he worked as a civil servant in a number of finance-related positions.
He was elected as a local councillor in Savoie's canton de Moûtiers in 1994. He later served on the departmental council of Savoie, and in 1999, became its president. He was appointed to the finance ministry in November 2004.
Resignation
Gaymard's resignation as Minister of Finances came after the satirical and investigative newspaper Le Canard enchaîné disclosed that the government was funding an exclusive apartment for Gaymard and his family (his wife and his 8 children). The duplex apartment, located in the exclusive "Golden Triangle" neighbourhood off Paris' Champs-Élysées, reportedly had an area of 600 m² (6460 sq ft) and cost the state a monthly rental of 14,000. At first, Gaymard justified the expense by claiming he had nowhere else to live (saying he was "clean as a new penny"), but subsequent newspaper reports (in the Canard and Libération) showed he owned a large Parisian apartment and several holiday properties. Worse, the Ministry of Finances already had ministerial apartments installed inside the Ministry; Gaymard contended that this arrangement would have been unwieldy for his large family.
While Gaymard's actions were not illegal, the exposure of Gaymard's accepting lavish, state-funded perks, then attempting to lie in interviews, was bad news for the government at a time when the French public was asked to accept more economic sacrifices. Gaymard himself had said that the French should become "detoxified" of public spending. Following this scandal, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin tightened up the rules for public officials using state-funded apartments. However, the Canard soon revealed that Budget Minister Jean-François Copé also enjoyed an expensive apartment paid for by the state while he owned an apartment in Paris.
There has been some controversy regarding how the Canard and Libération had obtained such information. It was at some point suggested that they were orchestrated by Nicolas Sarkozy, a political rival of Gaymard from the same party.
A few weeks after the scandal, it was revealed that the 2003 tax filings of Gaymard and five other personalities had disappeared from the safe of a tax office in which they were stored.
External links
Categories: People stubs | 1960 births | French politicians