Chirac Keeps Tentacles of Scandal at Bay

Jacques Chirac, France’s president since 1995, is nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his willful, impetuous style of living and politicking. But as the whiff of scandal strengthens here, the ground under this proven survivor has never seemed more unstable.

The 68-year-old neo-Gaullist is playing host this week to fellow leaders at the European Union summit in Nice and, pleading the press of diplomatic duties, has kept mum. But once the Nice meeting is over, he will almost certainly have to break his silence.

“The earthquake is near if no one reacts,” Dominique Paille, a center-right member of Parliament, said Tuesday in reference to Chirac.

The president’s former right-hand man, ex-gendarme Michel Roussin, 61, was jailed last week in what has mushroomed into one of France’s greatest scandals of modern times. During Chirac’s 1977-1995 tenure as mayor of Paris, Roussin was his chief of staff--and alleged point man in a vast influence-peddling scheme.

Companies that wanted contracts for building or repairing lycees, or middle schools, in Paris and its suburbs had to make “gifts” to a slush fund. The money, reported to total $80 million between 1989 and 1996, was divvied up among the right-wing parties that support Chirac as well as the opposition Socialists.

There’s no doubt that the secret mechanism for party financing existed. The only real question is what was done by Chirac and Roussin. Other former officials from various parties questioned by magistrates have identified Roussin as the fund’s paymaster.

Louise-Yvonne Casetta, former treasurer of Chirac’s Rally for the Republic party, or RPR, has told investigators that Chirac knew about the gifts, which were legal at the time, but not that they were tied to public works contracts, which was illegal. For some politicians and observers, it is inconceivable that Chirac didn’t know.

“Never since 1995 has Jacques Chirac appeared so isolated, so enfeebled,” the tabloid newspaper Le Parisien said this week. “Things seem to be falling apart around the Elysee [the presidential palace] and its occupant.”

The accusations against Chirac and his entourage first surfaced in a videotape made by a now-dead financial and political operative. The tape appeared mysteriously in September. Chirac rejected the allegations at the time as fantastic. Since the detention of Roussin, who was held six days for questioning and then released Wednesday on bail, Chirac has said nothing.

Increasingly panicky about what the impact may be on the 2002 presidential and parliamentary elections, some on the French right want Chirac to speak. “Trust in our democracy has reached degree zero,” Philippe Seguin of the RPR said. “We need explanations.”

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin’s Socialist Party, also implicated in the kickbacks, has said little beyond calling for justice to take its course. But Socialist legislator Arnaud Montebourg wants Chirac brought before the High Court of Justice, a move equivalent to the impeachment process.

For that to happen, one-tenth of the members of the National Assembly, or 58 lawmakers, would have to agree. This week, Montebourg said he had lined up pledges of support from 22 members.