France's Villepin Rejects Calls to Resign Over Probe
By: Administrative Account | Source: Bloomberg
May 2, 2006 6:11AM EST

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, his approval ratings plunging, rejected calls from the opposition that he resign and denied allegations that he instigated an investigation to discredit Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. ``I've been accused on the basis of statements that were taken out of context,'' de Villepin said today on Europe 1 radio. ``I've never asked for investigations of political figures from the right or the left.'' The uproar stems from a file, later found to have been a fake, purporting to show that politicians including Sarkozy channeled bribes into illegal bank accounts. French intelligence officer Philippe Rondot told judges looking into the matter that de Villepin, acting on orders from President Jacques Chirac, asked him on January 9, 2004 to look into whether Sarkozy and other politicians had the accounts, Le Monde reported April 28. In an interview published in Le Figaro today, Rondot said de Villepin never asked him to make inquiries into politicians, including Sarkozy, about bribes received through Clearstream, a Luxembourg-based financial clearing house. Rondot said that accounts of his comments in Le Monde were biased. Approval Ratings De Villepin's approval rating fell to 20 percent, an LH2/Liberation opinion poll held April 28 and 29 showed. Only Edith Cresson, with a rating of 18 percent in 1991, has fared worse, Liberation said today, citing polling company Ifop. The Clearstream flap follows de Villepin's retreat last month of a youth-job law that sparked nationwide protests. Some members of the opposition Socialist and centrist UDF parties called for de Villepin's resignation. ``It's impossible that the Prime Minister keep his job,'' Socialist lawmaker Henri Emmanuelli said in an interview on Radio J on April 30. UDF leader Francois Bayrou said on France 3 television the same day that hostility among de Villepin, Sarkozy and Chirac is making for an ``unsustainable situation.'' ``I'm shocked and displeased about by the smear campaign against me,'' de Villepin said today, as he rejected the idea of a cabinet reshuffle or of an early election. He said the allegations may be due to next year's presidential election. The allegations are the latest of a series of tensions between Sarkozy and the Prime Minister. Sarkozy, 51, who is calling for a break with past policies, has been at odds with de Villepin, 52, and Chirac, 73, on issues ranging from taxes to affirmative action to the loosening of labor laws. The two had been expected to be rivals for the ruling party's candidacy in the 2007 elections to succeed Chirac before de Villepin's popularity collapsed over a youth labor law. Sarkozy fell out of favor with Chirac after he supported Chirac's rival in the 1995 presidential elections.

To contact the reporter on this story: Francois de Beaupuy in Paris at fdebeaupuy@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: May 2, 2006 05:17 EDT