67% of French don’t want culture minister to resign

TWO-THIRDS of French people do not want culture minister Frederic Mitterrand to resign for having written about paying young male prostitutes for sex in Thailand, an opinion poll showed yesterday.

Mitterrand has rejected calls for his resignation, sparked by revelations in his 2005 autobiography, The Bad Life, and said the male prostitutes were consenting adults.

The French government has also come out in support of Mitterrand.

The controversy surfaced after Mitterrand defended film-maker Roman Polanski, who faces extradition for having had sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

The National Front party and main Socialist opposition party said he should step down. The survey found 20% of those polled wanted him to quit.

Mitterrand has called his experiences in Thailand, described in the book that mixes autobiography and more dreamlike reflection, as “a mistake, certainly, a crime, no”.

Mitterrand is the nephew of former president Francois Mitterrand. He was a television personality when the book came out but was not in the government.