Monday, June 28, 2004 12:20 p.m.. EDT
Economist: Chirac Isolated, On His Way Out
His popularity ratings have plunged, his party is in disarray, his attempts to dominate the European Union have fallen flat, a top aide and protege was convicted of corruption, and Jacques Chirac's future as France's president is at best cloudy.
Story Continues Below
Chirac has been France’s president for the last 10 years - he’s been in public service since Tony Blair was 13 - but his days of dominating European politics in tandem with Germany's Gerhard Schröder have come to an embarrassing end, according to Britain's Economist.
The magazine suggests "Many new (EU) members remain suspicious of France, thanks to (Chirac's) high-handed behavior over Iraq. Much of their hostility to France, says one Polish official, was caused by Mr. Chirac's bullying."
Recently Chirac has faced a series of defeats at home and in the European community where the Economist says he is isolated:
At the European summit, Chirac tried to sell the draft EU constitution as "good for France," but the Economist wrote that the final text was not the document he had wanted, thanks to provisions that allowed the British to keep a veto over taxation and social security.
Chirac and Germany's Schröder tried to install Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's prime minister, as European Commission president and were defeated in what the Economist termed "a cruel reminder that, in an enlarged Europe of 25, the French and Germans can no longer steer matters alone."
In two recent elections voters rejected his party.
70% of voters say they have no confidence in Chirac's Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Chirac's approval rating was a low 50% last August, but is now a sub-electable 35%, according to TNS Sofres, a pollster.
Chirac is battling within his own party.
He has not said whether he'll run for another five-year term, and France's Expatica magazine says Chirac is trying to lay down the ground rules on who can succeed former Prime Minister Alain Juppé as president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
Juppé will quit as boss of Chirac's UMP thanks to his conviction for graft.
Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy wants Juppé's job as a launching pad for a presidential candidacy in 2007, and he and Chirac "drew battle lines ... when Sarkozy rejected (Chirac's) conditions for the takeover of the president's ruling party," reported Expatica.
According to the Economist, however, Chirac now says he will accept Sarkozy's takeover of the UMP – a move that may signal Chirac’s concession that he will no longer be his country’s choice to be their leader.
Editor's note:
Economist: Chirac Isolated, On His Way Out
His popularity ratings have plunged, his party is in disarray, his attempts to dominate the European Union have fallen flat, a top aide and protege was convicted of corruption, and Jacques Chirac's future as France's president is at best cloudy.
Story Continues Below
Chirac has been France’s president for the last 10 years - he’s been in public service since Tony Blair was 13 - but his days of dominating European politics in tandem with Germany's Gerhard Schröder have come to an embarrassing end, according to Britain's Economist.
The magazine suggests "Many new (EU) members remain suspicious of France, thanks to (Chirac's) high-handed behavior over Iraq. Much of their hostility to France, says one Polish official, was caused by Mr. Chirac's bullying."
Recently Chirac has faced a series of defeats at home and in the European community where the Economist says he is isolated:
At the European summit, Chirac tried to sell the draft EU constitution as "good for France," but the Economist wrote that the final text was not the document he had wanted, thanks to provisions that allowed the British to keep a veto over taxation and social security.
Chirac and Germany's Schröder tried to install Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's prime minister, as European Commission president and were defeated in what the Economist termed "a cruel reminder that, in an enlarged Europe of 25, the French and Germans can no longer steer matters alone."
In two recent elections voters rejected his party.
70% of voters say they have no confidence in Chirac's Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
Chirac's approval rating was a low 50% last August, but is now a sub-electable 35%, according to TNS Sofres, a pollster.
Chirac is battling within his own party.
He has not said whether he'll run for another five-year term, and France's Expatica magazine says Chirac is trying to lay down the ground rules on who can succeed former Prime Minister Alain Juppé as president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
Juppé will quit as boss of Chirac's UMP thanks to his conviction for graft.
Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy wants Juppé's job as a launching pad for a presidential candidacy in 2007, and he and Chirac "drew battle lines ... when Sarkozy rejected (Chirac's) conditions for the takeover of the president's ruling party," reported Expatica.
According to the Economist, however, Chirac now says he will accept Sarkozy's takeover of the UMP – a move that may signal Chirac’s concession that he will no longer be his country’s choice to be their leader.
Editor's note:
