The conviction for corruption of former French Premier Alain Juppé is far from the end of the latest financial scandal to hit French public life. It is instead the beginning of a process that might even bring down the president of France, Jacques Chirac.
Juppé has always been close to Chirac. He was widely expected to be Chirac’s choice to succeed him in the Elysée Palace. He was Chirac’s premier from 1995 to 1997 until he lost an election thanks to voters’ opposition to his proposed social and economic reforms. Currently mayor of Bordeaux, he has been found guilty of corruption when he was Chirac’s deputy during part of Chirac’s 18 years as mayor of Paris.
Like so many corruption scandals, the precise details are banal but the implications of Juppé’s conviction are not. There seems very little likelihood that Juppé would have acted in this matter without the knowledge and approval of his powerful political boss. Juppé denied any wrongdoing. His defense was that, as and when he found any corruption, he stamped it out. The courts did not believe him. Nor do many observers who recall that Chirac ran a tight ship in Paris.
There seem still to be serious questions for him to answer. His attitude throughout the investigation has been odd. Shortly after being re-elected for a second presidential term in 2002, Chirac protested that he would love to help the investigators but his presidential office prevented this. For many, this was an odd interpretation of the president’s immunity from prosecution while in office. Juppé had announced before yesterday’s court verdict that if he were found guilty, he would quit politics. The judges have made sure of this by banning him from office for ten years in addition to imposing an 18-month suspended sentence.
Despite his earlier announced intention, Juppé has now postponed his withdrawal from the political arena while he appeals his conviction. Some may fear that as the decision moves higher up the judicial establishment, the influence of the Elysée Palace could be brought to bear. Such a strategy would however be extremely risky since Chirac himself also clearly has a case to answer in the scandal. The French can be remarkably tolerant and cynical of the self-interested maneuverings of “le pouvoir” — the governing classes. If however the president seeks to protect himself by protecting his political protégé Juppé, their patience may well run out. A rescue attempt for Juppé would further compromise Chirac himself and increase the already strong probability of indictment if he leaves the Elysée at the next election in 2007 when he is 74. On the other hand, if he now leaves well enough alone, pressure for prosecution may ease in the next three years. For the moment though, his international position is unlikely to be undermined by the scandal. Indeed, compared with Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, President Chirac’s alleged crimes look like petty misdemeanors.
