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Dictatorship of rumour: Chirac

Vaiju Naravane

President has a secret account in Japan, says weekly

Paris: As allegations of wrongdoing continued to surface in the so-called Clearstream affair that is currently rocking the French government, President Jacques Chirac broke his long and baffling silence to denounce what he called "the dictatorship of rumour" dogging the judicial enquiry into the scandal. "The republic is not a dictatorship of rumours, a dictatorship of slander," a tired-looking President said.

Mr. Chirac was clearly referring to the Clearstream scandal which is growing murkier with each passing day. The satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine on Tuesday published an article based on testimony from France's former military intelligence chief who reportedly said Mr. Chirac had a secret account in Japan holding $57 millions, donated by a "mysterious cultural foundation." This is the first time any of the allegations have reached the very top - to the President himself.

In a surprise television statement made after the regular Wednesday Cabinet meeting, Mr. Chirac reaffirmed his support for embattled Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, saying he had "total confidence" in his conservative government. But the impromptu declaration is unlikely to quell the rising tide of allegations and revelations that is swamping the ruling party.

Resigns

Jean Louis Gergorin, Vice-President of the armaments and aviation giant EADS, resigned from his post. He is suspected by many to be the anonymous whistle blower who sent the falsified Clearstream account holders' list to a magistrate in Paris.

At stake is not only the survival of Mr. Villepin and his Government — already ly weakened from street protests last month that blocked labour reform — but also the result of the next presidential and legislative elections scheduled for May 2007.

The scandal, a web of fabricated allegations accusing several top French industrial, defence and political personalities of receiving kickbacks in a defence deal and laundering the money through a Luxemburg-based financial clearing house called Clearstream, was allegedly used by the Prime Minister to launch an investigation into the finances of his arch rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy..

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