Suitcases of cash
15/9/11 20:34![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ddstory.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsFrance is shaking from yet another huge scandal on the top floors. No, this time it's not about DSK and his inability to keep his dick in his pants. But it's about another potential Sarkozy rival on the coming presidential election. And that's kinda suspicious. But do bear with me.
Turns out Dominique de Villepin and Jacques Chirac himself (!) had been receiving multiple suitcases of money from Africa while they were in power. But why does this fact surface just now? As usual, things are not as simple as they seem on the surface.
For decades, lots of French politicians had secretly received enormous amounts of cash from various African leaders. That's what the French-Lebanese lawyer and unofficial Sarkozy advisor Robert Bourgi is claiming. Between 1997 and 2005 he himself participated in the exchange of suitcases involving then French president Chirac and then foreign minister De Villepin. The cash amounted to 20 million euro in total. The bribes were coming from the heads of state of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo and Gabon. The present foreign minister Alain Juppe was also involved in the scheme. Apart from cash, Chirac and Villepin also received many gifts, like an African mask and 200 diamonds (wow!)
Bourgi knows the suitcase scheme pretty well. The African leaders were offering gems and cash in return for diplomatic and military support. But until now the only ones who knew of the scheme were those who participated in it.
Bourgi himself was in great relations with the West African governments and he had taken an active role in this fraud. He served under Chirac and Villepin as an advisor on Africa. Later he offered his services to Sarkozy when the latter was elected president in 2007. Now Bourgi says that Sarkozy had asked him to work for him, but "without the suitcase scheme". Sarkozy was determined to stop the secret practices of his predecessors. Whether that's true, or Bourgi is being used as a tool by Sarkozy now just before the election, is unclear. But it raises some questions.
Everyone is asking what made Bourgi start talking right now, and reveal all these stinky facts about the political past of Chirac and Villepin. He claims it was his "conscience" that eventually prompted him to do it. He says he's ashamed of that period of his life, and he wants "a clean France for my children, and first and foremost, one in good relations with Africa". How noble, eh?
Does this mean Bourgi has suddenly turned into a man of honor? Not everyone is convinced that this is his motive. His critics say he's giving himself more importance and he wants to enter the game once again, now when there's not much work for him under Sarkozy. Others suspect the persident and his aides have made Borugi to talk to the media, to discredit Sarko's potential rivals within his own conservative camp, and clear his way to presidency - Villepin is after all one of his main internal rivals.
The former French PM has won the appeal against the court decision he was given after the "Clearstream" scandal and the prosecution for slander against Sarkozy. His sentence on the former case will probably be repealed by the second court, and Villepin is expected to run in the presidential election in 2012 - if something doesn't put an obstacle in front of him, of course. Like a new scandal. For example, fraud allegations and some money suitcases being tossed around. ;)
Villepin's aides are suspecting that Bourgi's allegations are being directed by Sarkozy. The president hates Villepin and wants him out of his way. It's what happened to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chairman. That sex scandal, which is now looking suspiciously like a set-up and was dropped by the court, already managed to destroy his credibility, and there's no way he could run against Sarkozy. In their turn, Villepin and Chirac have said they'll be suing Bourgi for slander. But even so, the damage has been done already, and Sarkozy must be rubbing his hands in delight. Unless he has under-estimated the situation and it backfires on him.
The online newspaper Mediapart recently came out with another theory. They say Sarkozy is up to his shoulders in the shit with a series of scandals - like the one about the gifts he received from France's wealthiest lady Liliane Bettencourt (of L'Oréal). They say in the pre-election period Sarkozy should be worried about a number of unpleasant revelations possibly coming up. And that's why he's trying to divert public attention away from himself and re-direct it to Chirac and Villepin as the convenient scapegoats with this scandal about the suitcases. Whether it's true or not is a question that's getting pushed somewhere to the background now, and the public is more interested about "why now" and "why this guy" is fanning up the fire, rather than why Chirac and Villepin did all those things (if they did them at all).
Meanwhile, the socialists are insisting for the creation of a special committee to investigate Bourgi's allegations. He admits he has no evidence, because, as one might suppose, the cash gifts don't get recorded in any document. So he could claim whatever he wants without anything being proven, and meanwhile time will be ticking away until the election. But the opposition might have a few more aces up their sleeve, while the French conservatives are too busy killing each other.
Turns out Dominique de Villepin and Jacques Chirac himself (!) had been receiving multiple suitcases of money from Africa while they were in power. But why does this fact surface just now? As usual, things are not as simple as they seem on the surface.
For decades, lots of French politicians had secretly received enormous amounts of cash from various African leaders. That's what the French-Lebanese lawyer and unofficial Sarkozy advisor Robert Bourgi is claiming. Between 1997 and 2005 he himself participated in the exchange of suitcases involving then French president Chirac and then foreign minister De Villepin. The cash amounted to 20 million euro in total. The bribes were coming from the heads of state of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo and Gabon. The present foreign minister Alain Juppe was also involved in the scheme. Apart from cash, Chirac and Villepin also received many gifts, like an African mask and 200 diamonds (wow!)
Bourgi knows the suitcase scheme pretty well. The African leaders were offering gems and cash in return for diplomatic and military support. But until now the only ones who knew of the scheme were those who participated in it.
Bourgi himself was in great relations with the West African governments and he had taken an active role in this fraud. He served under Chirac and Villepin as an advisor on Africa. Later he offered his services to Sarkozy when the latter was elected president in 2007. Now Bourgi says that Sarkozy had asked him to work for him, but "without the suitcase scheme". Sarkozy was determined to stop the secret practices of his predecessors. Whether that's true, or Bourgi is being used as a tool by Sarkozy now just before the election, is unclear. But it raises some questions.
Everyone is asking what made Bourgi start talking right now, and reveal all these stinky facts about the political past of Chirac and Villepin. He claims it was his "conscience" that eventually prompted him to do it. He says he's ashamed of that period of his life, and he wants "a clean France for my children, and first and foremost, one in good relations with Africa". How noble, eh?
Does this mean Bourgi has suddenly turned into a man of honor? Not everyone is convinced that this is his motive. His critics say he's giving himself more importance and he wants to enter the game once again, now when there's not much work for him under Sarkozy. Others suspect the persident and his aides have made Borugi to talk to the media, to discredit Sarko's potential rivals within his own conservative camp, and clear his way to presidency - Villepin is after all one of his main internal rivals.
The former French PM has won the appeal against the court decision he was given after the "Clearstream" scandal and the prosecution for slander against Sarkozy. His sentence on the former case will probably be repealed by the second court, and Villepin is expected to run in the presidential election in 2012 - if something doesn't put an obstacle in front of him, of course. Like a new scandal. For example, fraud allegations and some money suitcases being tossed around. ;)
Villepin's aides are suspecting that Bourgi's allegations are being directed by Sarkozy. The president hates Villepin and wants him out of his way. It's what happened to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chairman. That sex scandal, which is now looking suspiciously like a set-up and was dropped by the court, already managed to destroy his credibility, and there's no way he could run against Sarkozy. In their turn, Villepin and Chirac have said they'll be suing Bourgi for slander. But even so, the damage has been done already, and Sarkozy must be rubbing his hands in delight. Unless he has under-estimated the situation and it backfires on him.
The online newspaper Mediapart recently came out with another theory. They say Sarkozy is up to his shoulders in the shit with a series of scandals - like the one about the gifts he received from France's wealthiest lady Liliane Bettencourt (of L'Oréal). They say in the pre-election period Sarkozy should be worried about a number of unpleasant revelations possibly coming up. And that's why he's trying to divert public attention away from himself and re-direct it to Chirac and Villepin as the convenient scapegoats with this scandal about the suitcases. Whether it's true or not is a question that's getting pushed somewhere to the background now, and the public is more interested about "why now" and "why this guy" is fanning up the fire, rather than why Chirac and Villepin did all those things (if they did them at all).
Meanwhile, the socialists are insisting for the creation of a special committee to investigate Bourgi's allegations. He admits he has no evidence, because, as one might suppose, the cash gifts don't get recorded in any document. So he could claim whatever he wants without anything being proven, and meanwhile time will be ticking away until the election. But the opposition might have a few more aces up their sleeve, while the French conservatives are too busy killing each other.
