She finally breaks the silence and speaks at length about the controversy. Guest of the program “ExtraLocal” on the Public Senate channel, which will be broadcast this Friday, April 28, the Secretary of State in charge of the social and solidarity economy Marlène Schiappa discusses the use of the Marianne Fund, at the heart of a vast controversy due to a management deemed opaque. According to extracts published this Thursday, April 27, the Secretary of State in charge of the Social and Solidarity Economy believes that the subsidies paid to “two associations raise questions, in particular about what they have done with the money”.
The two associations concerned are: the Union of Physical Education and Military Preparation Societies and Rebuild the Common. These received respectively 355,000 and more than 300,000 euros. Marlène Schiappa raises questions around “executive compensation and the monitoring of this fund”.
Created in 2021, the Marianne Fund was to fight against separatism, after the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty. However, this money would only have been used to supply a website and publications with very little follow on social networks, according to a survey by Marianne and France 2. It would also have made it possible to pay two ex-leaders up to 120,000 euros. USEPPM including Mohamed Sifaoui, author of books on political Islam and terrorism.
“It was us, the government, who first launched an inspection after an association itself was reported. We took legal action. If these subsidies have been used for something other than their purpose, we need to know, ”defends Marlène Schiappa on Thursday. In addition, she says “support the opening of any parliamentary commission of inquiry” after the controversy. At the origin of the fund, Marlène Schiappa rejects the accusations of “favoritism” and “embezzlement”. “My lawyer is in the process of filing complaints against various online platforms that wrongly accused me,” she said. “Those are lies, so I will sue for libel.” »
In addition, the Secretary of State and former Minister Delegate for Citizenship defends herself from any “political conspiracy”. And this, by returning to the association Reconstruire le commun, at the origin of the publication of videos attacking political leaders, including some from the opposition such as Anne Hidalgo or Mathilde Panot.
“I asked my team to watch all the videos, we watch and what do we find out? Anti-Olivier Véran videos, anti-Emmanuel Macron videos. We cannot say that there is a political conspiracy insofar as this association makes videos against members of the government, ”she judges.
