Pressure on Mr Hervé Gaymard to resign as French finance minister increased yesterday amid a fresh wave of revelations about his extravagant living arrangements in a government-funded €14,000 a month luxury apartment.
Le Canard Enchaine, the anti-establishment weekly newspaper, shocked the government by publishing for the second consecutive week a string of embarrassing details about Mr Gaymard's 600-square metre apartment in Paris.
Mr Gaymard, a close ally of President Jacques Chirac, had hoped to quell the growing public debate over his flat by moving out within days of the first Canard story breaking last week. He had moved in only weeks earlier, soon after taking over the finance minister's job from Mr Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, there seemed to be a growing political consensus forming yesterday that the public relations disaster over his large apartment had done irreparable damage to Mr Gaymard's reputation. Government ministers appeared worried that the scandal could undermine his efforts to emphasise the need for rigorous budgetary discipline to rein in France's huge debts and reduce its swollen public deficit.
Mr Arnaud Montebourg, an outspoken Socialist member of parliament, said Mr Gaymard should "explain himself or resign". A member of the ruling UMP party told AFP: "It is very difficult for him to stay in his job."
The lack of a public show of support for Mr Gaymard from President Chirac or Jean-Pierre Raffarin, prime minister, fuelled speculation that he would be forced to step down.
Le Monde ran a front page story yesterday citing people close to Mr Raffarin describing the scandal over Mr Gaymard's apartment as "inevitably embarrassing".
However, Mr Raffarin's office tried to calm the situation late yesterday afternoon.
"There has never been a question about Mr Gaymard resigning," said a person close to the prime minister, who emphasised Mr Raffarin's "friendship and confidence" in the finance minister.
The Canard yesterday made a series of new revelations about Mr Gaymard's apartment, which it said contradicted his statements and claimed had "caused panic" in Matignon, the prime minister's office.
Its main allegation was that the finance minister should not have sought a government-funded house in Paris as he already owned a large apartment in the city, which it claimed was rented to a friend at a low rent.
However, the finance ministry issued a statement, explaining Mr Gaymard's 200-square metre apartment was rented for €2,300 a month on a three-year contract that expired in August.
The scandal is an unwelcome distraction for the government as it tries to introduce unpopular reform to the 35-hour week and takes on trade unions over big privatisations this year.
