Faced with the controversy, François Bayrou has opted for crisis communication. The prime minister met with representatives of victims of sexual abuse from the Notre-Dame de Bétharram secondary school, in south-western France, on Saturday, February 15, at the city hall in Pau, the city he still serves as mayor.

Bayrou has been destabilized by the serious accusations leveled against him, following investigations by Mediapart, Le Monde and local press outlets. He is suspected of having ignored cases of mistreatment and abuse that occurred at the private Catholic school, which his children attended and where his wife taught Bible studies, while he was education minister (1993-1997). The school is being investigated by the Pau prosecutor's office following more than a hundred complaints from victims, with the alleged abuse spanning from the 1960s and 2010s.

You have 86.16% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.