Latest news with #DominiqueDeVillepin
Times
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Napoleon admirer launches new party in bid for presidency
Dominique de Villepin, France's former prime minister, likened himself to Joan of Arc and Napoleon Bonaparte on Tuesday as he signalled his intention to become president. De Villepin, 71, who led his country's refusal to join the war in Iraq in 2003, is seeking to portray himself as the saviour of a nation in decline. Opponents accuse him of a cheap attempt to exploit the country's political chaos by appealing to left-wing Muslims and mainstream centrist voters. He has launched his own political party, La France Humaniste (Humanist France), which he hopes will carry him to the Élysée in 2027. The move is reminiscent of President Macron's strategy in 2016, when he founded his own party before a successful run for the presidency a year later. Macron campaigned as an outsider who would rise above petty political squabbling to lead pragmatists into battle against populism. De Villepin seems to be employing the same tactics, although he denied following in Macron's footsteps. With the incumbent unable to run for a third term, the 2027 election is clouded in uncertainty. Marine Le Pen, leader of the populist right National Rally and frontrunner in the polls, has been barred from running for office after being convicted of corruption. She will only be able to stand if she overturns her sentence on appeal next year. On the left, the radical Jean-Luc Mélenchon is keen to stand for a fourth time but has been accused of antisemitism. On the centre-right there are half a dozen contenders, although none have captured the public imagination to emerge as a favourite. De Villepin, who was interior minister, foreign minister and prime minister during the presidency of Jacques Chirac between 2002 and 2007, has yet to announce his candidacy officially but has made clear his intention to run. An Ifop poll last month found him to be the country's most popular politician with 51 per cent of respondents saying they had a good opinion of him. His aim is to win broad support by reaching out to the left with a pro-Arab message while hoping that his record in government will be enough to ensure support from the centre and the centre-right. In interviews with French media outlets, he suggested that Macron had demeaned the presidency by meddling in day-to-day politics and said that France needed an 'arbiter' above the fray who would 'inspire the nation'. Vaunting his experience in government he added: 'We need more professionalism and less of a bidding war [between politicians] in television studios.' He said the launch of La France Humaniste was the 'starting point for an action that stems from a great French tradition'. In a pitch for voters on the left and right, he cast himself as heir to the country's greatest figures: the likes of Joan of Arc; Napoleon Bonaparte; Jean Jaurès, the socialist assassinated in 1914; Pierre Mendès-France, the moderate postwar leftwinger; and General Charles de Gaulle, the resistance leader and president. Detractors, however, believe he is making a cynical grab for a left-wing ethnic minority vote with his outspoken criticism of Israel's military intervention in Gaza.
The Guardian
18 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ex-French PM Dominique de Villepin launches party with view to 2027 presidential run
The former French prime minister and foreign policy chief Dominique de Villepin has launched a political party called Humanist France, with a view to a possible bid for the French presidency in 2027. De Villepin, who was prime minister under the rightwing president Jacques Chirac from 2005 to 2007, is best known for his dramatic speech to the United Nations in 2003, setting out France's opposition to a US-led Iraq war and warning of the 'incalculable consequences' of military action in the region. Despite leaving French politics over a decade ago, de Villepin has enjoyed a significant increase in popularity after recent media appearances criticising Israel's war in Gaza. He has said the west is 'closing its eyes' to what he called a scandalous 'spiral of violence' and rising civilian deaths. Recent polls showed de Villepin's stance on the Middle East crisis has made him the most popular politician in France – and that he is particularly liked by leftwing voters, despite having led a rightwing government. De Villepin, 71, told Le Parisien on Tuesday that too many parties in France were 'tempted by populism, one-upmanship and stigmatisation' and France needed to move away from the identity politics polarising the country. He said his party, La France humaniste, was free to join and open to anyone from any political stance. It was a movement aimed at bringing together citizens and coming up with ideas, he said. Asked about running in the 2027 presidential election, de Villepin said it was not the moment to 'enter the presidential debate'. But he left the way open for consideration of a possible bid. De Villepin told France Inter radio on Tuesday that the world was becoming a more dangerous place 'because we're now in a world without rules, without international law, where the law of the jungle, the law of the strongest prevails'. A gaullist who historically positioned himself on the centre-right, de Villepin's term as prime minister under Chirac was marred by the biggest street protests in decades, which forced him to scrap a controversial youth employment law. Christelle Craplet, director of opinion at BVA pollsters, said de Villepin's high popularity was not the same as a firm intention to vote for him. She said his popularity was greatest not among his traditional centre-right, but among supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's leftwing party, La France Insoumise, for whom Gaza was a key issue. A recent BVA poll asking French voters a more specific question on who they would like to have an influence on French politics in the future, found de Villepin came relatively low down, in 17th position, far behind the far-right's Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, and the centre-right former prime minister, Édouard Philippe. Craplet said: 'Dominique de Villepin made an impression 20 years ago with his refusal of the Iraq war, and today his strong position on Gaza is also making an impression. He is popular because he has a strong voice on the Middle East conflict and part of the French electorate feel not enough is being said about Gaza. This is particularly true among those who sympathise with La France Insoumise.' She said: 'But I think that if tomorrow de Villepin had to set out his position on domestic French politics – the economy and social measures – support from left voters wouldn't last. So I think it's very paradoxical, and today it seems to me like a bit of a bubble.' The 2027 French presidential race remains open. Emmanuel Macron, who has served two successive terms, cannot run again and it is uncertain who will represent his centrist party. The far-right leader Marine Le Pen was this year banned from running for public office after she was found guilty of embezzlement of European parliament funds. She is waiting for an appeals trial next year to see if she could run, or would be replaced by Jordan Bardella.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Former French PM de Villepin Forms Party Ahead of 2027 Election
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced late Monday he was creating a new political party ahead of the 2027 presidential election. The new party, Humanist France, will seek to bring voters from across the political spectrum to defend social justice and order, de Villepin, 71, told French daily Le Parisien. The former premier said he was returning to the forefront so that the French weren't trapped between radical political extremes.
