New French minister thevenoud resigns over 'tax problems'
9/4/2014 8:51:31 PM
France's new trade minister Thomas Thevenoud was forced to resign Thursday because of "problems with his taxes," a government source confirmed, in a new blow to embattled President Francois Hollande.
The socialist deputy was only appointed less than a fortnight ago in a reshuffle after a revolt over austerity measures threw the French government into crisis.
A government source told Agence France-Presse that he stepped down after admitting he had a "problem about the declaration of his taxes... he has not resigned because of any political disagreement."
The resignation has uncomfortable echoes of the so-called Cahuzac affair, when Hollande's budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was sacked in March 2013 after he was accused of evading tax using non-declared Swiss bank accounts.
The socialist deputy was only appointed less than a fortnight ago in a reshuffle after a revolt over austerity measures threw the French government into crisis.
A government source told Agence France-Presse that he stepped down after admitting he had a "problem about the declaration of his taxes... he has not resigned because of any political disagreement."
The resignation has uncomfortable echoes of the so-called Cahuzac affair, when Hollande's budget minister Jerome Cahuzac was sacked in March 2013 after he was accused of evading tax using non-declared Swiss bank accounts.