The Hindu : International : E.U. debacle claims Raffarin scalp, De Villepin is new French Premier

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Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005

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International

E.U. debacle claims Raffarin scalp, De Villepin is new French Premier

Vaiju Naravane

Chirac move seen as strategy to neutralise Sarkozy's popularity

ALL SMILES: French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AP

PARIS: In a desperate move to salvage whatever little credit is still left to him, French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday appointed a long-time loyalist and fervent supporter Dominique de Villepin as the country's new Prime Minister, replacing Jean-Pierre Raffarin. The appointment of Mr. de Villepin, a former Foreign Minister who has been serving as France's Interior Minister since the last Cabinet reshuffle a few months ago, was a foregone conclusion.

The move was largely commented in the French press with derision, with analysts suggesting that the weakened President had chosen loyalty over efficiency and had denied the people their first choice, the ebullient and energetic Nicholas Sarkozy who has thrown an open leadership challenge to Mr. Chirac.

Choice criticised

"Rather than genuinely give a new impulsion or new direction to his policy, Mr. Chirac has chosen to take refuge behind a small coterie of loyalists. He has done this in order to marginalise Mr. Sarkozy who is the true challenger. But this strategy might not succeed since Mr. de Villepin is seen as the brain behind almost every single political miscalculation made by the President over the past decade," commentator Patrick Sabatier told The Hindu .

The 51-year-old Mr. Villepin was Foreign Minister through the period of the Iraq war. His links to President Chirac go back to 1995, when he was named secretary-general at the Elysee palace after the President's first election. As Prime Minister it is expected he will faithfully carry out the President's orders. The same could not be said of the UMP party's General-Secretary Mr. Sarkozy.

Mr. Chirac's first priority will be to address the concerns of the 55 per cent of the population who ticked the "no" box on Sunday. With most voters telling saying they were motivated by fear of unemployment or "general discontent," the President is expected to order a more "social" direction to policy — promising a new initiative on youth job creation, for example.

If after a year the results are positive, Mr. de Villepin could become the next conservative candidate for the presidential poll in 2007.

It is widely assumed that the results of the referendum have all but scotched Mr. Chirac's chances of a third presidential bid.

Mr. Sarkozy has been named Minister of the Interior in Mr. Villepin's Cabinet.

The move is a clever way of capitalising on Mr. Sarkozy's popularity in the country and neutralising the President's most outspoken rival on the political right.

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