Chirac Apponts Villepin as Prime Minister >

[Stephanie]

I love this man!


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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050531/ap_on_re_eu/france_new_government_3

Chirac Names De Villepin Prime Minister




By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

PARIS - Shaken by the defeat of the European Union constitution, President Jacques Chirac appointed Dominique de Villepin, a loyalist who was France's voice against the Iraq war, as prime minister on Tuesday.

Villepin, formerly the interior minister, replaces Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was dumped after voters on Sunday roundly rejected the EU charter in a referendum.

Villepin, 51, arrived at the presidential Elysee Palace just minutes after Chirac bid farewell to Raffarin with a handshake on the palace steps. Chirac charged Villepin with the task of forming a new government.

Villepin was Chirac's foreign minister during the Iraq war. He is best known for his eloquent defense of the French stance against a U.S.-led invasion. <more>

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[Mass]

1. It is amazing to what point some DUers misunderstand French politics

De Villepin is the typical right-wing, pro-business, elitist politician in France. There is no difference between him and Raffarin, and it is an outrage that Chirac decided to name more of the same, after having lost a third election (where most of the NO was an opposition to his policies more than an opposition to the European idea).

Because De Villepin was a strong opponent of the Iraq War does not make him a good man anymore than Pat Buchanan is a good man.

[Mass]

2. dupe \nt