(Image Source: Foreign Policy)
BY RUISHA QIAN
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rising popularity is jeopardized, as two of his closest allies face corruption charges. The Sydney Morning Herald has the story...
“Nicolas Bazire, one of Mr Sarkozy's closest friends and best man at his wedding … was charged on Thursday with misuse of public funds … of former right-wing prime minister Edouard Balladur's presidential campaign in 1995 ... He is suspected of taking kickbacks from the sale of submarines to Pakistan in the 1990s...”
The scandal goes beyond illegal party funding. Thierry Gaubert, Sarkozy’s former ministerial cabinet chief, is facing charges for the “Karachi Affairs”.
In May 2002, a bomb attack on a bus in Karachi killed 15 people. French judges now believe it was a retaliation attack over unpaid government bribes. euronews has the details:
“The repercussions of a bombing in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2002 continue to be felt in France. Eleven French engineers died in the attack, which it is claimed was in revenge for unpaid bribes … When the victims’ lawyers asked investigators to find out where the money went – the trail led to the 1995 government of Edourd Balladur.”
Mr. Sarkozy has issued a press release distancing himself from that case.
With fewer than 7 months away until his 2012 reelection, these charges are likely to disturb Sarkozy’s campaign. Radio France Internationale translates a few comments from French newspapers...
“Some of Friday’s papers say the Socialists stand poised to make political gain out of the scandal. … Western regional paper La Charente Libre ... says the charges set the tone for a campaign theme of a suffocating republic instead of the irreproachable one promised by Sarkozy on his election in 2007.”
Earlier this year, Sarkozy has also been accused of taking illegal donations from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt. He has denied any wrongdoing on that case, as well.
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