For Chirac, It’s Deja-Vu All Over Again
It seems that the pundits who are trying to understand why French President Jacques Chirac appointed Dominique de Villepin to the position of prime minister are forgetting one thing; and that is the emotional side of the story.
With the rejection of the EU constitution, the French voters have effectively put Chirac on the back side, the downhill side, of his career. Chirac had been pushing the EU forward with the probable hope that he would one day be the leader of a united Europe. With the rejection of his dream by the French and Dutch voters, Chirac could see no higher points, no greater glories in his future. The future that now faces him is the probable loss of his presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 and an economic quagmire in France that he cannot resolve without resorting to the hated Anglo-Saxon model.
So why did Chirac pick Villepin as his PM? Did he think that fine speeches and bad poetry were going to unclog the socialism congested arteries of the French economy? That would be a very irrational decision on his part, and Chirac is not quite that irrational. The real reason that Chirac picked Villepin is so that he could relive his past glory.
Probably the highest point in Chirac’s career was when his protégée, Villepin, defied both of the Anglo-Saxon powers at the UN, to the cheers of most of the representatives there, as well as to the cheers of most of the world. It was during that time, when he was the leader of those who challenged the US superpower, that Chirac experienced his proudest moment. Chirac was then strutting across the world stage. He stood tall. He beamed confidence. He was the moral giant and all the eyes of the world were on him. Major powers like Germany and Russia followed his lead and backed his play. The Arab world loved him.
When the coalition in Iraq failed to find WMD, his stock went even higher. His next step would be the completion of the formation of the EU, with himself as its most important statesman. But things began to go wrong. The march to Iraqi democracy began to appear more real every day. Now, it appears that the insurgents there can kill a lot of people, but they cannot stop the march, nor can they stop the growing Iraqi army that will eventually be good enough to defeat them. The voters of Iraq spoke. They want that democracy, and they will have it. In the mean time, Chirac appears as the man that did everything in his power to prevent their freedom. The self interested dealings of French government officials with Saddam and the oil for food program have been exposed.
Furthermore, the French economy has been completely stagnant. Other nations are surpassing the French per-capita GDP. The unemployment rate is 10.2 percent. It is as high as 25 percent for some of the younger age groups. Chirac tried to use Jean-Pierre Raffarin to make some of the difficult changes; to begin to limit the social entitlements and to remove some of the job killing government regulations. Raffarin tried to do this, but he lost all of his popularity as a result. When the EU Non vote occurred, Raffarin was the logical scapegoat.
It appears that Chirac has given up on the idea of doing anything real and permanent to solve the French economic problems. Instead, he has decided to live in the glory of the past. And that is why he appointed Villepin. It is an appointment that reminds both Chirac and the world of Chirac’s moment of greatness. Having been embarrassed by the French voters, and facing his own decline, he badly needed to relive the high point of his life - and to remind everyone else of it again. For the moment it has worked. The European news sources are full of stories reminding people of Villepin’s standing ovation at the EU. But Chirac will have to pay the price for that self indulgence when he meets Sarkozy in the 2007 elections, if not before.
With the rejection of the EU constitution, the French voters have effectively put Chirac on the back side, the downhill side, of his career. Chirac had been pushing the EU forward with the probable hope that he would one day be the leader of a united Europe. With the rejection of his dream by the French and Dutch voters, Chirac could see no higher points, no greater glories in his future. The future that now faces him is the probable loss of his presidency to Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 and an economic quagmire in France that he cannot resolve without resorting to the hated Anglo-Saxon model.
So why did Chirac pick Villepin as his PM? Did he think that fine speeches and bad poetry were going to unclog the socialism congested arteries of the French economy? That would be a very irrational decision on his part, and Chirac is not quite that irrational. The real reason that Chirac picked Villepin is so that he could relive his past glory.
Probably the highest point in Chirac’s career was when his protégée, Villepin, defied both of the Anglo-Saxon powers at the UN, to the cheers of most of the representatives there, as well as to the cheers of most of the world. It was during that time, when he was the leader of those who challenged the US superpower, that Chirac experienced his proudest moment. Chirac was then strutting across the world stage. He stood tall. He beamed confidence. He was the moral giant and all the eyes of the world were on him. Major powers like Germany and Russia followed his lead and backed his play. The Arab world loved him.
When the coalition in Iraq failed to find WMD, his stock went even higher. His next step would be the completion of the formation of the EU, with himself as its most important statesman. But things began to go wrong. The march to Iraqi democracy began to appear more real every day. Now, it appears that the insurgents there can kill a lot of people, but they cannot stop the march, nor can they stop the growing Iraqi army that will eventually be good enough to defeat them. The voters of Iraq spoke. They want that democracy, and they will have it. In the mean time, Chirac appears as the man that did everything in his power to prevent their freedom. The self interested dealings of French government officials with Saddam and the oil for food program have been exposed.
Furthermore, the French economy has been completely stagnant. Other nations are surpassing the French per-capita GDP. The unemployment rate is 10.2 percent. It is as high as 25 percent for some of the younger age groups. Chirac tried to use Jean-Pierre Raffarin to make some of the difficult changes; to begin to limit the social entitlements and to remove some of the job killing government regulations. Raffarin tried to do this, but he lost all of his popularity as a result. When the EU Non vote occurred, Raffarin was the logical scapegoat.
It appears that Chirac has given up on the idea of doing anything real and permanent to solve the French economic problems. Instead, he has decided to live in the glory of the past. And that is why he appointed Villepin. It is an appointment that reminds both Chirac and the world of Chirac’s moment of greatness. Having been embarrassed by the French voters, and facing his own decline, he badly needed to relive the high point of his life - and to remind everyone else of it again. For the moment it has worked. The European news sources are full of stories reminding people of Villepin’s standing ovation at the EU. But Chirac will have to pay the price for that self indulgence when he meets Sarkozy in the 2007 elections, if not before.
posted by Tilo Reber at 3:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home