'French Watergate' threatens Chirac

[Kellanved]

The beleaguered French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, today faces tough questioning in parliament over his alleged role in a bogus corruption scandal dubbed French Watergate as opposition politicians questioned whether he could stay in office and called for early elections.

Mr De Villepin is alleged to have used a senior intelligence official in an intricate plot to smear his rival and presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy.

The scandal, which threatens to undermine Jacques Chirac's last year as president, began in the summer of 2004 when an anonymous source wrote to a judge accusing Mr Sarkozy and other politicians and businessmen of holding secret bank accounts with the Luxembourg bank Clearstream. The accounts were said to hold kickbacks from the $2.8bn (£1.5bn) sale of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. But the judge soon discovered that the allegations were false and the accounts did not exist.
...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1765592,00.html

[marmar]

1. Good. Chirac is lauded here for his opposition to the Iraq War...

but he is a right-winger. Au revoir! Hopefully a leftist government will take over in France. I wonder if Delanoe, the mayor of Paris, has any interest in the presidency.

[tocqueville]

2. Chirac isn't threatened

Maybe Villepin could be if it was proven by the French Fitz that he REALLY ordered the rovian trick on Sarkozy. Personally I don't think he did. The false allegations of corruption were mostly aimed at key people in the French industry, like EADS. I smell the CIA behind this story.

Delanoe has no plans of candidating for the Presidency. The final fight will probably stand behind Sarkozy and a socialist candidate, maybe Segolene Royal. And nothing will happen BEFORE the elections next year, unless there is a MAJOR, MAJOR scandal, and this isn't, at least for now.

Chirac isn't a RW. He is formally a Republican Conservative, but leaning so much to the left that in the US, he would be considered as a mainstream Democrat. Even Lieberman stands to the right of him.

Remember that in most European countries, right wingers of the US type (we call them liberals !) are very few and considered as loonies. Sarkozy and Royal defines themselves as "Blairists", but it's only on the economical issues. None of them are religious (even if Sarkozy is a Catholic and goes to mass).

Any elected socialist will have to drive through a "right-wing" policy anyway on economical matters. One of the most important things to do for a new President is to start the works about a 6th Constitution, because the old institutions are not working anymore, due to the reform of limited mandate for the Presidency, which makes the duality of power practically impossible. It's probable that France will go over to a more parliamentary system, by limiting the Presidents power and reinforcing the Assembly.

[marmar]

3. True. "Right" is very different in Europe...

Perhaps the parliamentary system, limiting the power of the president, is a good idea.

[fshrink]

4. Personally, I feel Sarkozy himself is behind the whole thing.

He is on it with all kinds of police and has been forever. He is as tricky as Rove, Delay or Berlussolini. As for the "left", the best one can hope is to get the French version of Hillary (Segolene Royal)... Delanoe being gay has no chance whatsoever. French are not that advanced.

[hogwyld]

5. I hope the Socialists put up a good candidate

France is one of the last great bastions against rampant capitalism. They still care about unions and workers rights. If the conservatives win again, all of those protections are as good as gone. Hopefully, they'll bring back the 35 hour workweek as well.