Dominique de Villepin

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Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Incumbent
Assumed office 
May 31, 2005
Preceded by Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Born November 14, 1953
Rabat, Morocco
Political party UMP
France

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Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (born 14 November 1953 in Rabat, Morocco) simply known as Dominique de Villepin (/dominik də vilpɛ̃/ — listen (help·info), is a French diplomat and politician. He is Prime Minister of France, having served in that capacity since 31 May 2005.

A career diplomat, Villepin rose through the ranks of the French right as one of Jacques Chirac's protégés. He came into the international spotlight as Foreign Minister, with his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and recently with his appointment as Prime Minister.

He is married to Marie-Laure Le Guay, and they have three children, Marie, Arthur, and Victoire. He has written poetry, a book about poetry, and several historical and political essays.

Contents

[edit] Life

Villepin was born in Rabat, Morocco and raised in Latin America -- in Venezuela, among other places there. His lyrical texts and passion for France won him awards in 2001 for his book about the last 100 days of Napoleon's rule, entitled "Les Cent-jours, ou L'esprit de sacrifice" (see Bibliography, below).

[edit] Origins

De Villepin often is said to belong to the "Republican aristocracy", of families whose members graduate from the grandes écoles and go on to become high-ranking civil servants. Villepin's great-grandfather was a colonel in the French army, his grandfather was a board member for several companies, and his father Xavier de Villepin, now retired, was a diplomat and a member of the French Senate. Villepin speaks French, English and Spanish.

[edit] Career

[edit] Diplomat

Villepin studied at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po) and went on to the École nationale d'administration, France's highly selective post-graduate school which trains its top civil servants. Villepin also holds degrees in law and literature from the universities of Paris II Panthéon-Assas and Paris X Nanterre. At the end of his studies, Villepin entered a career in diplomacy. His assignments were:

  • Advising Committee on African affairs (1980 - 1984)
  • The French embassy in Washington, D.C. (1984 - 1989), as premier secrétaire until 1987 and then deuxième conseiller.
  • The embassy in New Delhi (1989 - 1992), as deuxième conseiller until 1990 and then premier conseiller
  • Foreign Ministry's top adviser on Africa (1992 - 1993)

Villepin was also heavily involved in developing the French foreign policy leading up to the Rwandan genocide, in which 800 000 - 1 million people died. Several questionable decisions, such as the import of weapons in spite of an arms import embargo, as well as the close links to Hutu officials responsible for this atrocity, are a series of foul deeds adding to the epitaph of Mr. Villepin.

[edit] Politician

Villepin was introduced to Jacques Chirac in the early 1980s and became one of his advisers on foreign policy. In 1993 he became chief of staff (directeur de cabinet) of Alain Juppé, then Foreign Minister in Édouard Balladur's cabinet, and Chirac's political heir apparent.

Villepin then became director of Chirac's successful 1995 presidential campaign and was rewarded with the key job of Secretary-General of the Élysée Palace during his first term as President of the Republic (1995 - 2002). He advised the president to hold an early general election in 1997, while the French National Assembly was overwhelmingly dominated by the president's party. This was a risky gamble, and Chirac's party went on to lose the elections. Villepin offered Chirac his resignation afterwards, but was turned down. This increased the perception among many politicians on the right that Villepin was aloof and had no experience or understanding of grassroots politics, and owed his enviable position only to being Chirac's protégé.

Villepin has an uneasy relationship with the members of his own political side. He has in the past made a number of demeaning remarks on members of parliament from his own party. In addition, his mutual distaste for Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the UMP Union for a Popular Movement majority party, is well-known.

[edit] Foreign Minister

Villepin, then Foreign Minister, with Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber.
Enlarge
Villepin, then Foreign Minister, with Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber.

He was appointed Foreign Minister by Chirac in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at the beginning of his second term in 2002.

During the crisis in Haiti, Villepin once again showed himself to be a resolute decision-maker, obtaining the backing of the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in his bid to solve the crisis by ousting Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power.

Villepin's most famous assignment as Chirac's Foreign Minister was opposing the U.S. plan to invade Iraq, making France look like the leader in a coalition of countries such as Germany, Belgium, Russia and China that opposed the invasion. The speech he gave to the United Nations to block a second resolution allowing the use of force against Saddam Hussein's regime is regarded by some as an historic moment, receiving loud applause.

[edit] Interior Minister

During the cabinet reshuffle that made Nicolas Sarkozy Finance Minister, Villepin was appointed to replace him as Interior Minister on 31 March 2004.

It was at this point that the rumours of Villepin being a favorite to replace the unpopular Jean-Pierre Raffarin as Prime Minister became insistent, as his combined experience of foreign affairs and home policy made him a most qualified candidate. It was also this assignment which highlighted the differences in views between Villepin and Sarkozy.

The main struggle at home for the interior ministers under Prime Minister Raffarin was the question of crime, especially in the poor suburbs of Paris and other big cities. On radical Islam, another hot issue, Villepin favored a tougher approach than Sarkozy.

His actions against radical Islam included mandatory courses for Muslim clerics, notably in the French language (a third of them do not speak it), in moderate Muslim theology and in French secularism: laïcité, Republican principles and the law. While Sarkozy created the French Council of the Muslim Faith, an official body which is now dominated by radicals, Villepin would have preferred a "Muslim foundation," in which mosque-based representatives would be balanced by secular and moderate Muslims.

He also cracked down on radical Muslim clerics, causing an uproar when he tried to expel Abdelkader Bouziane, an imam who taught that adulterous women could be whipped or stoned. When the decision to expel him was overturned by the courts, Villepin pushed a change of the law through Parliament, and Bouziane was sent home.

[edit] Prime Minister

With Alain Juppé barred from holding political office following a conviction for illegal party financing through a fake jobs plan, President Chirac is said to have turned his eye on Villepin as a possible successor, should he himself decide not to enter the 2007 presidential contest. However, Nicolas Sarkozy would probably be in a better position to secure the endorsement of the centre-right UMP party; a bitter rivalry is thus said to exist between Sarkozy and Villepin.

On 29 May 2005, French voters in the referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe turned down the proposed document by a wide margin. This was generally regarded as a rebuke to Chirac and his government. Two days later, Raffarin resigned and Chirac appointed Villepin as Prime Minister of France.

The following events are covered in more detail in First Employment Contract.

On Thursday, March 16th, 2006 tens of thousands of French university and school students marched to demand the government scrap a contentious youth jobs clause, known as CPE. CPE badly hurt the ratings of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, the primary driver behind the move. The law, intended as a response to the 2005 riots, was intended to stimulate job growth and arrest the 23% youth unemployment rate by allowing employers to fire employees aged under 26 within the first two years of their employment for any or no reason. Supporters of the law argued that such probationary arrangements are not unusual in Western countries and that the current system in France discourages employers from hiring people whom they may be unable to fire if they prove unsuitable for the job, while critics argue that it discriminates unnecessarily against the young and decreases job security. The union movement issued an ultimatum to de Villepin to scrap the law by March 20 or face a general strike. This ultimatum expired without concession. A general strike was called for March 28.

On March 28 between one and three million people demonstrated across France. The protests were accompanied by some violence and 800 people were arrested, 500 of them in Paris. The Prime Minister refused to withdraw the CPE but called for negotiations on adapting it. The demonstrators for the most part called for the complete withdrawal of the CPE.

Villepin suffered a humiliating political defeat on April 10, 2006 when President Chirac publicly announced to the nation that the law pushed by the Prime Minister would in fact be scrapped. Enacted only one week before, the scrapping of the law represented a "great victory" for the student and labor unions opposed to Villepin's labor market reforms, according to the BBC.

On June 20, 2006 during the questions to government in the National Assembly, Dominique de Villepin accused head of the Socialist Party François Hollande of cowardice. [1] Hollande had questioned the Prime Minister about the recent "insider trading" scandal involving the aerospace company EADS and executive Noël Forgeard. This triggered an incident in the Assembly, with Socialist deputies converging on the government benches and being stopped by the Assembly ushers. Hollande demanded apologies and the resignation of the Prime Minister [2]; the next day, Dominique de Villepin apologized. This event resulted in criticism even from Villepin's own UMP party, with UMP parliamentarians including Assembly vice-president Yves Bur suggesting that president Chirac should "take his responsibilities" (appoint another Prime Minister) [3].

Villepin has never held elected office; the French Constitution allows the president to appoint unelected ministers. This is a political liability for him, because the opposition periodically accuses him of being out of touch with the realities of the ordinary citizens. He is also reported to despise elected officials, calling members of Parliament connards (an insult) [4]. Villepin is not the first "unelected" prime minister, even in the relatively short history of the Fifth Republic: notable predecessors include Georges Pompidou, who was a banker before being called to office, and Raymond Barre, who had a previous career as a professor and appointed official, and started an elected career only after being Prime minister.

[edit] Presidential bid

There has been speculation that Villepin may be a candidate in the next Presidential election, in 2007, when Jacques Chirac is expected to retire. However, the leading candidate for the UMP party is the interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy who has declared his candidacy. It is considered unlikely that Villepin would be able to beat his to the party's nomination.

A frequent criticism of Villepin is that he has never been elected to office. He acceeded to all of his political positions via appointment.

[edit] Villepin's first cabinet

In an address to the nation, Chirac has declared that the new cabinet's top priority would be to curb the unemployment level, which consistently hovers above 10%, calling for a "national mobilization" to that effect.

Villepin's cabinet is marked by its small membership (for France), and its hierarchical unity: all members have the rank of minister, and there are no secretaries of State, the lowest cabinet member rank. The aim of this decision is for the cabinet to form a close-knit and more efficient team to combat unemployment.

One of the main promises of Jean-Pierre Raffarin as he became Prime Minister was to spur growth and that "the end of President Chirac's term would be marked by a drop of the unemployment." The French economy is growing sluggishly and a significant drop in unemployment is yet to be seen. Villepin's aim is therefore to restore the French people's trust in their government, an achievement for which he has publicly set himself a deadline of a hundred days from the appointment of cabinet.

Another issue is the European Constitution which appears condemned after its rejection by France and the Netherlands in referenda, and the shelving of the planned referendum in the United Kingdom, Poland and other countries.

Some have speculated that Villepin, with his diplomatic experience and the prestige associated with the job of Prime Minister, would negotiate a new treaty with the European Union, while Sarkozy would run the country at home. However, what happened is that Villepin, formerly considered elitist and out-of-touch with the people, obtained favorable reviews from the press and temporarily increased popularity in polls. In particular, he was increasingly cited as a possible presidential contender for 2007, while Nicolas Sarkozy has publicly stated that he himself gave considerable attention to that election. While there are obvious tensions between partisans of both men, Villepin and Sarkozy have so far avoided any open division.

Villepin has declared that lowering unemployment was the number one objective of his government (which, was also the case of other prime ministers before him, to no avail). He, as well as the UMP party, believe that France's workforce rules are too rigid and discourage employment, and that some liberalizing reforms are necessary in order to "correct" the French social model.

On 2 August 2005, he issued ordinances establishing a new kind of work contract (called CNE) for small enterprises, with fewer guarantees than ordinary contracts. Ordinances are legislative decisions that the executive takes in areas normally devoted to Parliament, after obtaining Parliament's authorization; they are normally reserved for urgent action, or for uncontroversial technical legislation. While Villepin's measures would surely have been approved by his wide UMP majority in Parliament, the use of ordinances was criticized by the opposition. Villepin justified the use of this procedure by the need to act fast, especially when Parliament was going on its summer recess.

On 16 January 2006 he announced a similar kind of work contract (called Contrat première embauche, or CPE) for young people (under 26). The parliament approved on 8 February. Subsequently students started to protest. This wave of protest eventually forced the government to give in. Although the law on the CPE is formally still valid, the government promised to hinder its application and initiated a new legal initiative which will abolish the key points of the CPE. During the protests, Villepin was widely perceived as stubborn and arrogant. As a consequence, his popularity rates went down rapidly and he is no longer regarded as a serious candidate for the presidential elections next year.

Another major issue in Villepin's government is the state of the national budget. France runs high deficits, which run afoul of the rules set in the EU Maastricht Treaty. Villepin's margin of maneuver in that respect is extremely slim.

Villepin is currently embroiled in a scandal (called Clearstream [5]) involving accusations of phony bank accounts and charges of trying to sabotage the campaign of rival right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2007 French presidential election.

[edit] Membership

Ministers

Delegate ministers

  • Henri Cuq, delegate minister for relationships with Parliament;
  • Azouz Begag, delegate minister for equal opportunities;
  • Jean-François Copé, delegate minister for budget and the reform of the State, spokesman for the Government;
  • Gérard Larcher, delegate minister for employment, work, and the professional insertion of the young;
  • Catherine Vautrin, delegate minister for social cohesion and parity [of the sexes];
  • Brigitte Girardin, delegate minister for international cooperation, development and francophonie;
  • Brice Hortefeux, delegate minister for local governments;
  • Catherine Colonna, delegate minister for European affairs;
  • François Goulard, delegate minister for higher education and research;
  • Léon Bertrand, delegate minister for tourism;
  • Philippe Bas, delegate minister for Social Security, the elderly, the handicapped, and the family;
  • François Loos, delegate minister for industry;
  • Christine Lagarde, delegate minister for foreign commerce;
  • Hamlaoui Mékachéra, delegate minister for war veterans;
  • Christian Estrosi, delegate minister for the management of the territory.

[edit] Bibliography: works written by Villepin himself

  • 2001 : Les Cent-Jours ou l'esprit de sacrifice (Perrin, 2001 - Le Grand livre du mois, 2001 - Perrin, 2002 - Éditions France loisirs, 2003); soulful writing on a topic which Villepin says has fascinated him since childhood, the "One Hundred Days" between the return of Napoleon from Elba and the defeat at the Battle of Waterloo, interesting for its contrast with English & American & Hollywood & even many other French views of its controversial subject, awarded the Grand Prix d'Histoire of the Fondation Napoléon (2001) and the Prix des Ambassadeurs (2001);
  • 2002 : Le cri de la gargouille (Éditions Albin Michel, 2002 - Librairie générale française, 2003), a "meditation" upon French politics, in the classical style, written with cascading imagery, a pensive and deliberate analysis of the good & the bad & the really ugly & the truly magnificent, in the French political character -- enjoyable reading;
  • 2003 : Éloge des voleurs de feu (NRF-Gallimard, 2003), in English On Poetry, which is some reflections on the subject; de Villepin is said to have worked on the final draft during the UN session where the French successfully blocked authorization of the 2003 War in Iraq;
  • 2003 : Un autre monde (l'Herne, 2003), preface by Stanley Hoffmann, tr. américain Toward a new world: speeches, essays, and interviews on the war in Iraq, the UN, and the changing face of Europe (Hoboken, N.J. : Melville House, c2004), a selection of speeches by Villepin as Foreign Minister, with commentary by Hoffman, Susan Sontag, Carlos Fuentes, Norman Mailer, Régis Debray, Mario Vargas Llosa, others ;
  • 2003 : Preface to Aventuriers du monde 1866-1914 : Les grands explorateurs français au temps des premiers photographes (L'Iconoclaste, 2003), collective work ;
  • 2004 : Preface to l'Entente cordiale de Fachoda à la Grande Guerre : Dans les archives du Quai d'Orsay, Maurice Vaïsse (Éditions Complexe, 2004) ;
  • 2004 : Preface, with Jack Straw, to l'Entente cordiale dans le siècle (Odile Jacob, 2004) ;
  • 2004 : Preface to 1905, la séparation des Églises et de l'État : les textes fondateurs (Perrin, 2004) ;
  • 2004 : Preface to Mehdi Qotbi : le voyage de l'écriture (Paris : Somogy, 2004 - Paris : Somogy, 2005), "published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Institut Français du Nord and Attijariwafa Bank, presented at the Galerie Delacroix of the Institut français du Nord at Tangiers from June 25 to September 5 2004 and at the Espace d'Art Actua of the Attijariwafa Bank, Casablanca, Oct-Dec 2004" -- Villepin has a lifelong and interesting personal connection with the Maghreb and the Third World -- "born in Rabat, raised in Latin America", as the bios put it;
  • 2004 : Le requin et la mouette (Plon : A. Michel, 2004), essay ;
  • 2005 : Histoire de la diplomatie française with Jean-Claude Allain, Françoise Autrand, Lucien Bély (Perrin, 2005) ;
  • 2005 : Urgences de la poésie ([Casablanca] : Eds. de la Maison de la Poésie du Maroc, July 2005) tr. into Arabic by Mohamed Bennis, illustr. by Mehdi Qotbi; includes three poems by Villepin himself, "Elegies barbares", "Le droit d’aînesse", and "Sécession".

[edit] Bibliography: general

  • 1986: Villepin, Patrick de, Encore et toujours : François Xavier Galouzeau de Villepin, 1814-1885, un Lorrain émigré à Paris au XIXe siècle (Paris (21 rue Surcouf, 75007) : P. de Villepin, 1986)
  • 1987: Villepin, Patrick de, "Maintenir" : histoire de la famille Galouzeau de Villepin (1397-1987) ([Paris] (21 rue Surcouf, 75007) : P. de Villepin, 1987)
  • 2004: Le Maire, Bruno, Le ministre : récit (Paris : B. Grasset, 2004) ISBN 2-246-67611-8.
  • 2005: Derai, Yves et Mantoux, Aymeric, L'homme qui s'aimait trop (Paris : l'Archipel, impr. 2005) ISBN 2-84187-753-1.
  • 2005: Saint-Iran, Jean, Les cent semaines (Paris : Privé, DL 2005) ISBN 2-35076-011-1.

[edit] Quotes

  • L'option de la guerre peut apparaître a priori la plus rapide. Mais n'oublions pas qu'après avoir gagné la guerre, il faut construire la paix. ("The option of war can appear initially to be the most rapid. But let us not forget that after winning the war, peace must be built." At the United Nations Security Council on February 14, 2003, shortly before the US-led invasion of Iraq [6])
  • "We need a strong policy to combat radical Islam. It is used as a breeding-ground for terrorism. We cannot afford not to watch them very closely." As Interior Minister, December 2004.
  • "With the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime, a dark era is drawing to a close. And we welcome it...Together we must now build peace in Iraq and for France this has to mean the United Nations having a central role. Together we must build peace throughout the region and this can be done only through the determined search for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" (see In Sainte-Maxime, 10.04.2003).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Hubert Védrine		 Secretary-General of the Presidency of the French Republic
1995-2002		 Succeeded by:
Philippe Bas
Preceded by:
Hubert Védrine		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
2002-2004		 Succeeded by:
Michel Barnier
Preceded by:
Nicolas Sarkozy		 Minister of the Interior
2004-2005		 Succeeded by:
Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by:
Jean-Pierre Raffarin		 Prime Minister of France
2005-present		 Succeeded by:
Incumbent


Prime Ministers of the French Fifth Republic Flag of France
Michel Debré  • Georges Pompidou • Maurice Couve de Murville • Jacques Chaban-Delmas • Pierre Messmer • Jacques Chirac  • Raymond Barre • Pierre Mauroy  • Laurent Fabius • Jacques Chirac • Michel Rocard • Édith Cresson • Pierre Bérégovoy  • Édouard Balladur • Alain Juppé • Lionel Jospin • Jean-Pierre Raffarin • Dominique de Villepin

 
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