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In the Assembly, Sophie Pantel, the president of the commission of inquiry into links between politicians and Islamist or terrorist networks, resigned as soon as she was elected.

In the Assembly, Sophie Pantel, the president of the commission of inquiry into links between politicians and Islamist or terrorist networks, resigned as soon as she was elected.
Sophie Pantel at the Assembly, June 11, 2025. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

The commission of inquiry initiated by Les Républicains (LR) deputies into the links between politicians and terrorist or Islamist networks, implicitly targeting La France Insoumise (LFI), suffered a new setback on Wednesday, July 2, with the resignation of its president a few hours after her election.

Socialist MP Sophie Pantel sent a letter to the National Assembly administration, seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP), to inform them of her decision. "In view of the composition of the bureau of this commission of inquiry, the Socialist group does not wish to retain its presidency," she wrote.

The bureau, composed of MPs who are members of the inquiry commission, is responsible for organizing its work, including debating who should be interviewed. It was also elected on Wednesday. However, no MP from the four left-wing groups was elected to the eight positions at stake. The bureau includes two MPs from the National Rally (RN) and six from the central bloc. The presidency was supposed to go to an opposition group, and Sophie Pantel was elected over Aymeric Caron, who is affiliated with the LFI.

Following the vote, Mr. Caron denounced to the press an agreement between "the Macronist camp, the right and the extreme right" to "exclude them from the body" which allows "the choice of people who will be heard to be influenced" , with a view to making the commission a "trial" against his political group.

"Peaks of antics"

"Unfortunately, we are once again seeing the methods worthy of the LFI mafia: blackmail, threats, and intimidation. The PS [Socialist Party] had the opportunity to show that they are on the right side of the Republic, but it was a failure," the commission's rapporteur, LR MP Vincent Jeanbrun, told AFP. The vote to appoint the new commission president will take place on July 8, according to his entourage.

The commission, requested by Laurent Wauquiez's group (LR), was validated in mid-June by the Assembly and aims to investigate the links between political leaders and networks supporting "terrorist action or propagating Islamist ideology." Mr. Wauquiez returned to the charge after an initial failure two weeks earlier, the Assembly having deemed inadmissible his first request, which explicitly targeted La France Insoumise in its proposed resolution.

"The Wauquiez commission of inquiry has reached unprecedented heights of antics," reacted the leader of the "insoumis" deputies, Mathilde Panot, on X, after the announcement of Ms Pantel's resignation.

The World with AFP

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