Political scandals are not unknown in France and are well documented, but the list of well known politicians, including former presidents and prime ministers, accused in recent years of financial misdeeds or corruption is growing. In the present French political system, the president is a powerful figure: the head of state with supreme executive authority and command of the armed forces, with the ability to choose the prime minister, regarded as a symbol of the French nation. Directly elected by universal suffrage, not by an electoral college, for a term of five years, presidents cannot be voted out of office...