The speaker of France’s upper house of Parliament has admitted a “mistake” in the ordering of new chairs for him and colleagues at a cost of tens of thousands of euros, at a time when ordinary French are battling to preserve their purchasing power.
Speaker Gérard Larcher, a senior figure in the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party, said he had not been informed about the cost and had ordered an investigation. His comments were published in Le Parisien newspaper over the weekend.
French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné reported last week that the Sénat had ordered a new chair for Larcher at a cost of €40,000 as the previous chair had suffered from “intense use.” The report was particularly embarrassing for Larcher, who has repeatedly called for the purchasing power of the French to be protected at a time of rising prices.
Questioned by Le Parisien, Larcher said the order was worth “€34,000 exactly for two chairs and a prototype,” while adding that the Sénat’s furniture “has a history and therefore a cost.”
He added that he had not been made aware and had “requested an investigation,” acknowledging a “mistake” and saying he now expected “a change in practices from the Sénat administration?”
“We cannot advocate reducing public spending and not apply it to ourselves,” he continued. He said he expected the government under Prime Minister François Bayrou to continue “reducing the deficit and public spending with concrete actions.”
Larcher’s position as speaker, which he has held continuously for over a decade, means he would take over as head of state if President Emmanuel Macron was incapacitated or suddenly resigned.
