Paris: France`s opposition conservatives called on Wednesday for Francois Hollande`s justice minister to quit after it emerged the government knew that ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy`s phone was being tapped, contrary to her earlier statement.
Sarkozy`s conservatives have accused Hollande`s government of using the surveillance, launched by investigators as part of a party funding inquiry, to discredit them ahead local elections later this month where ruling Socialists risk losing ground.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira on Monday dismissed that accusation, saying she had not been aware of the surveillance until it was publicly revealed by Le Monde newspaper last week.
But Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said late Tuesday that both he and Taubira were told of the phone-tapping last month.
"So the justice minister has lied. In this context, it is impossible for her to remain in office," Jean-Francois Cope, a former Sarkozy protege who now heads the opposition UMP told reporters of Taubira.
Taubira, a favourite of the French left, came to prominence last year for pushing through laws allowing same-sex marriages in the face of fierce street protests. Her office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The UMP party has been weakened by in-fighting among its leaders and Cope himself has faced accusations of irregular party funding - allegations he has denied.
But in an unexpected turning of the political advantage late on Tuesday, Ayrault told France 2 television both he and Taubira had been aware of the phone-tapping.
"The justice minister received the information, subsequently passed on to me, that a new investigation had been opened regarding extremely serious matters. That`s when I learnt of it (the phone-tapping)," he said.
Ayrault stressed however that neither he nor Taubira had seen transcripts from the phone-tapping, which investigators launched last year after allegations that late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi funded Sarkozy`s 2007 election campaign.
KEY MID-TERM VOTE
Sarkozy, who has dropped hints he is preparing to run against for president in 2017 after being ousted by Hollande in 2012, has denied all wrongdoing.
Separately, Paris chief state prosecutor Francois Falletti confirmed that investigators had informed the government of "certain elements" of the inquiry, without specifying whether that also included details picked up by the phone-tapping.
"Prosecutors escalate up to the justice ministry all the important elements," Faletti told Europe 1 radio.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls told RTL radio he understood that a report in le Parisien newspaper that Hollande himself had been made aware of the phone-tapping was correct.
The inquiry is still at a stage that remains secret under French legal procedure, precluding comment from investigating judges. No details of the conversations between Sarkozy and his lawyer that were under surveillance have been made public.
French voters go to the polls on March 23 and 30 to elect new city mayors in the first major mid-term test of Hollande`s popularity since he came to office in May 2012. His poll ratings are at record lows for failing to tackle unemployment and start turning around the euro zone`s second largest economy.
Christian Jacob, parliamentary speaker for the conservative UMP party, said the acknowledgment by the government that it was aware of the phone-tapping was "extremely serious" and demanded an emergency session of parliament on the matter.
His opposite number accused the UMP of seeking to distract attention from allegations that its current leader, Sarkozy protege Cope, was involved in irregular party funding practices.
"This is just a diversion tactic," Socialist Party parliamentary chief Bruno Le Roux told Reuters. "Parliament can`t open its own inquiry in something which is already a matter for judicial authorities."
