Tax scandal pursues Hollande in Morocco trip

RABAT: French President Francois Hollande was to address Morocco’s Parliament yesterday as political pressure mounted over a tax fraud scandal in France that has overshadowed his two-day visit to the kingdom.
Hollande on the first day Wednesday of the landmark visit managed to avoid any reference to his ex-budget minister, Jerome Cahuzac, charged this week in a tax fraud probe after he finally admitted to having a secret foreign bank account.
But the scandal, seen as a political tsunami in France, will be harder to avoid when the embattled president holds a press conference at the end of his trip, that will be attended by a large French press corp.
As Hollande arrived in Morocco on Wednesday, where he was met by King Mohammed VI, his Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault faced a barrage of questions at the National Assembly in Paris, with the opposition demanding accountability.
The president has been quick to condemn Cahuzac’s actions, saying he had committed an “unforgivable moral error” and denying any knowledge of his secret foreign account. He also vowed a new law within weeks to scrutinize the wealth of ministers and parliamentarians.