French prime minister accused of smear campaign

FRENCH Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is facing a fresh battle to keep his job following accusations that he contributed to a smear campaign against his chief rival for the presidency, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

The latest row stems from what is called the Clearstream affair — a complex politico-legal case running back several years and involving allegations of kickbacks over the sale of warships to Taiwan, money-laundering and high-level corruption. The matter jumped into the media spotlight last week when the Le Monde newspaper ran an account from a senior secret service agent who reportedly said he was asked to investigate possible links between Mr Sarkozy and Clearstream. He said the request was made at the behest of Mr de Villepin, on President Jacques Chirac’s orders. The “revelation” was seen as crucial because an investigating magistrate had determined that an anonymously-sent list tying Mr Sarkozy and other prominent names in the French political and business worlds to Clearstream was bogus and designed to slander.

Today and tomorrow, Mr de Villepin will face tough questioning over the matter when parliament reconvenes. Tomorrow will also see a tension-filled cabinet meeting with Mr Chirac, Mr de Villepin and Mr Sarkozy at the same table.

The latest scandal threatens the political future of a prime minister already weakened from a climbdown over a labour reform law which was torpedoed last month by a series of nationwide street protests.

It has also been alleged that Mr Sarkozy’s exoneration was kept suppressed with the aim of damaging his run at the presidency next year. Suspicion turned to the two men who stood most to profit from such a smear campaign: Mr Chirac, who has long been hostile to the interior minister succeeding him, and Mr de Villepin, Mr Chirac’s chosen heir. Sources close to the intelligence officer, General Philippe Rondot, said Le Monde had taken his statement out of context, and Mr de Villepin and Mr Chirac denied singling out Mr Sarkozy for investigation.

But with Mr de Villepin struggling to bounce back from very low voter support figures in time to launch a presidential bid, the heat is on for him to convince the country he is not caught up in what one opposition politician has termed “the French Watergate”.