A French minister has quit the government to defend himself against rape allegations.
Damien Abad confirmed on Monday that he would no longer be French Minister for Solidarity and the Disabled.
The 42-year-old is being investigated by the Paris prosecutor’s office after two women accused him of attempted rape, dating back to 2010.
Abad denied the allegations “in the strongest terms possible”, saying that his own condition of arthrogryposis would have prevented him from performing the acts described.
“It seemed preferable, in the face of the ignoble calumnies of which I am the target (…) that I could defend myself without hindering the action of the government,” Abad said on Monday.
“I will defend myself relentlessly until justice confirms my innocence,” he added in a short speech.
He was replaced in the reshuffled French government by Jean-Christophe Combe but will remain a French deputy for Ain.
President Emmanuel Macron had come under increased pressure to fire Abad after the rape allegations first surfaced.
Chrysoula Zacharpoulou, France’s minister of state for development, has also been accused of sexual violence as part of her former profession as a gynecologist. She is also the subject of an investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Macron was forced to reshuffle his government for the second time in six weeks after losing its parliamentary majority in the June elections.
Former health minister Olivier Véran has been named government spokesman, while former Europe minister Clément Beaune has been named France’s new transport minister.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is expected to present the new government’s program to the National Assembly on Wednesday.
euronews Gt