Sarkozy’s top rival, former PM Villepin, starts movement seen as base for France’s 2012 vote

French PM’s top rival launches political movement

PARIS — Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin launched a new political movement Saturday to act as an alternative to the policies of President Nicolas Sarkozy, his longtime rival.

In his speech before a crowd of several thousand people shouting “Villepin, president!” the one-time diplomat never mentioned the 2012 presidential race, but appeared to be laying the foundations for the contest with his movement “Republic Solidarity.”

“I’m committing myself because I think the French need another path,” Villepin said, targeting the policies of the president.

“France is more divided than ever,” Villepin said, adding that he was ready to topple the “Bastille of money … of power … of discrimination.”

Villepin and Sarkozy belong to the conservative UMP party, which controls parliament. However, Villepin, a solid Gaullist, and Sarkozy have a bitter relationship that the president blames for the so-called Clearstream affair, a high-profile case in which Villepin was tried for slander.

Villepin, 56, was acquitted in January on charges he took part in a smear campaign against Sarkozy, but the prosecutor has appealed and Villepin will be retried, likely next spring. The so-called Clearstream case dates to 2004, when both Villepin and Sarkozy were considered contenders to replace President Jacques Chirac, Villepin’s mentor.

Villepin was prime minister under Chirac from 2005 to 2007. But he has been on the sidelines since Sarkozy took office.

Villepin, who caught the world’s eye with a forceful 2003 U.N. speech urging the United States not to invade Iraq, took aim at Sarkozy’s decision to return France to NATO’s integrated command. He also regretted that “France lets its soldiers die in Afghanistan in a war that it doesn’t have the courage to withdraw from.” A 44th death was announced Saturday.

On the domestic front, he denounced what he said was Sarkozy’s “instrumentalization of fear of the other” via the national identity debate earlier this year. “When France is afraid, it is no longer France,” Villepin said. He also favored cutting expenses and “augmenting fiscality” with, among other things, more taxes on large inheritances.

According to a poll this month by the Ifop firm for Paris-Match, 49 percent of French had a good opinion of Villepin, while 37 percent had a good opinion of Sarkozy. A total of 953 people were questioned for the poll. No margin of error was provided but on a poll of this size it would normally be plus or minus 3 percentage points. However, it was Villepin’s charisma more than policies that motivated 33 percent of those who felt positively about him, Ifop reported.