The Hindu : International / India & World : French press comes down on President

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 17, 2006

International

International - India & World

French press comes down on President

Vaiju Naravane

Decision to repatriate the warship in every single newscast and on every newspaper front page

PARIS: The French press on Thursday lambasted the government for the country's "humiliation and hasty retreat" over decommissioned aircraft carrier Clemenceau.

Following the order of the highest court in France, President Jacques Chirac ordered the recall of the Clemenceau on Wednesday.

The Conseil d'Etat also asked the French State to pay damages to the four associations, which had filed the case opposing the Clemenceau's transfer to India.

The decision was the lead story in every single newscast and on front pages of newspapers. "It's not quite Trafalgar, but there is a certain resemblance," headlined Liberation, referring to France's humiliating defeat at the hands of the British in 1805. In an editorial, the leftwing paper said: "Chirac's image sinks in the Indian Ocean." For someone "who spends his time lecturing the rest of the planet on the environment ... this is a real ecological boomerang."

The audio-visual press described the President's decision as "a sorry debacle." France Culture radio said: "The entire misadventure has cost us far more than if the asbestos removal and decontamination had been done in France."

The actual cost of repatriating the ship would be an estimated 8 million euros, not 1 million as claimed by Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. Ms. Alliot-Marie's handling of the Clemenceau affair was described as "incompetent and opaque."

Presidential hopes dashed

Most newspapers and TV stations agreed that her presidential hopes had been squashed as a result of the "blunder."

"Chirac torpedoes Alliot-Marie" screamed le Figaro. The President was livid and gave the Minister a piece of his mind, it said.

The Defence Ministry had brushed aside suggestions that sending the Clemenceau to India violated the Basel convention that banned toxic waste export and internal European legislation on the subject.

For Mr. Chirac, who has made frequent international appeals for the defence of the environment, to be seen as one who exports France's pollution to the developing world has been embarrassing.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail