Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) MP Stéphanie Weydert has accused Franz Fayot of overstepping his authority as president of the Budgetary Control Commission in the Chamber of Deputies. In a strongly worded statement titled “Franz Fayot oversteps his authority”, she claims that the former LSAP minister is not acting neutrally but is instead defending his party colleague, Paulette Lenert, in relation to the Court of Auditors’ special report on the Large-Scale Testing during the pandemic.
Weydert argues that Fayot has a clear conflict of interest, having served in the previous government and belonging to the same party as the former health minister. “From what we see, it appears that he is trying to hide or downplay how things were handled”, she asserts, although the Court of Auditors’ report is publicly available.
On Monday, the Budgetary Control Commission appointed Weydert and MP Sam Tanson of The Greens (Déi Gréng) as co-rapporteurs for the Large-Scale Testing dossier. At the same time, Fayot suggested holding a public debate on the topic.
Two weeks earlier, following the commission’s first meeting with the Court of Auditors, Fayot still struck a different tone while speaking from the perspective of a former minister. “At the time, we acted to the best of our knowledge on how to handle such a pandemic”, Fayot noted.
Was this a misstep? Fayot maintains that he cannot simply separate himself from his experience as a minister during the pandemic. “We openly discussed the report. Everyone had the opportunity to express their views during the meeting, as well as afterward with the press. And if I’m being honest, I see no conflict of interest here.”
He further argues that the report is being politically weaponised, levelling direct criticism at Weydert: “I would advise her to keep a low profile, as the undisputed champion of conflicts of interest.” This pointed remark refers to Weydert’s own past controversy – despite initial reluctance, she was forced to resign as president of the Caritas special commission due to a conflict of interest, just like her party colleague Laurent Zeimet.
