| Sacre Bleu |
2 February 2004
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Former French PM Juppe Convicted of Corruption
Alain Juppe was Prime Minister of France from 1995-1997, and is currently Mayor of Bordeaux, as well as the head of President Jacques Chirac's ruling party, Union for a Popular Majority [UMP in French]. Last week, he was also convicted of corruption, given an 18 month suspended sentence and banned from politics for 10 years. French politics is about to undergo a huge transformation.
When President Chirac's second term ends in 2007, many experts believed Mr. Juppe would be the French right's standard-bearer. He is a close friend of the president, has served his country as premier, and understands party politics as well as anyone in the country. His appeal of his conviction is the only thing preventing a power struggle in the UMP.
Moreover, he was convicted for actions taken while Deputy Mayor of Paris, for allowing party employees to be put on the city payroll in Paris yet have their salaries paid by private companies. This is not what the French mean when they speak of private-public collaboration. Most ominous of all, the mayor under whom Mr. Juppe served was Jacques Chirac, the now-immune from prosecution President of the Republic. Immune though he may be, this makes his departure in 2007 a certainty.
Presuming that Mr. Juppe's conviction stands, there is no immediate presidential choice for the palatable right Jean-Marie Le Pen of the most unpalatable National Front will run regardless of what happens elsewhere in France. This may give the French left an opening the likes of which it hasn't seen in years. Then again, it could serve to reinforce Mr. LePen's hand as the conservatives try stealing his policies to appeal to his supporters.
Irony is not uniquely Gallic, but the French culture does relish a good dose of the stuff. A hefty serving awaits if the conviction of Mr. Juppe leads to the establishment of a LePen government.
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