On November 4, 1994, 30 years ago, Jacques Chirac announced his candidacy in the presidential election. The Voix du Nord.
Betrayals and jokes
The media microcosm welcomes it with skepticism and even some ridicule. Many were loyal to Edouard Balladur. Le Monde Had he not rather been writing for a few weeks about the «Balladur era» that was about to begin? Arlette Chabot would be ridiculed if she asked him whether he really intended to go through with it or rather withdraw his candidacy.
Betrayals flourished The most important (and painful) of these was that of Nicolas Sarkozy. Everyone wanted to swoop in to save the victory of the candidate who already seemed elected, Edouard Balladur.
A top team, the Séguin-Juppé tandem
He could count on the very complementary duo formed by Philippe Séguin and Alain Juppé. The first fired a hail of bullets at the Balladurian fortifications and made them tremble. From «Munich Social» to qualifying Edouard Balladur's policies with denunciation of a rigged election: «An election, what election? Go ahead, there's nothing to see!»
The second brought credibility, thanks to his image as an excellent foreign minister, which he had and the RPR he led. Interim President. When Edouard Balladur denounced « the career plans of political professionals », Alain Juppé replied sharply, « In these times, it is better to deal with professionals than with amateurs ».
The ultra-faithful Jacques Toubon and Jean-Louis Debré took all the risks and they did everything they could to undermine the Balladur candidacy.
France charnellement
By attending meetings and getting to know France up close and personal, m2 by m2 Jacques Chirac finally managed to break through the armor and show himself as he really was. He won the trust and the sympathy of the French people, whom he loved deeply, through his total determination. Nothing could distract him from his unwavering course, despite an extremely tough campaign. Inevitable when a political family falls apart internally.
The last great President of the Fifth Republic
Jacques Chirac was the last President of the Republic to have a Gaullist approach to the Institutions To ensure the regular functioning of the public authorities, the independence and continuity of the Nation, to embody France abroad and to be the head of the armed forces. The accusation against him was that he was a «lazy king», precisely by those who did not respect these institutions: the President is «a man in charge of the essentials» and the Prime Minister is the one who «directs and leads the government’s actions.”.
Jacques Chirac succeeded in representing France in all its diversity. The urban and rural France, the elite and the more popular one. He never made any distinction between the French and scrupulously respected the principle of secularism.
He had a grand foreign and defense policy in the Gaullist tradition. The last president to know the Armées and to love the military, he did not hesitate to resume the nuclear tests in order to ensure the «safety, security and reliability of our deterrent forces». He was the one who asked the French military to stop passively observing the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia but to maintain their positions and to retaliate.
France was loved and respected in the world, especially by the countries of the «South»;
The Franco-German couple was working well and played a leading role for the European Union.
Visionary, he opposed the crazy Iraqi adventure, detailing its destabilizing consequences for the entire region, and managed to rally a broad coalition behind France. We are not done paying the price for it. The same people who today make Iran their target forget that it was their relentless pursuit of destroying Iraq that greatly contributed to freeing the Iranian power. Some learn nothing from their repeated failures.
Jacques Chirac was to be a mediator, a guarantor of respect for and the implementation of international law, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As early as 1996, he rebuked Netanyahu during the first official meeting in Paris: «I don't believe a word of what you say; your entire policy is to provoke the Palestinians.». Each time, Jacques Chirac intervened to defend Lebanon when it was threatened. Not through hollow statements but through resolutions voted and implemented by the Security Council. Jacques Chirac was loved and respected in each of the three countries of the Maghreb, Who can say the same?
It is hard to say that his strong and just voice, his natural authority, are sorely missed by us, both in France and internationally.
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