Chirac, PM Took $20M From African Leaders: Aide

De Villepin linked to dirty campaign against rival Sarkozy

(NEWSER) - Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is expected to face criminal conspiracy charges following the discovery of new evidence linking him to a dirty tricks campaign against President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Times of London reports. Police yesterday searched his Paris home after investigators found computer data suggesting he directed a plot to implicate Sarkozy in a 2004 bribery scandal. More»

De Villepin will stand trial on false money- laundering accusation

(NEWSER) - Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin will face trial for his role in an alleged smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy, who outmaneuvered him for the presidency. The "Clearstream Affair" scandal dates to 2004, when an anonymous source sent a judge a list of politicians, including Sarkozy, said to be laundering bribes through a Luxembourg bank. But the list turned out to be bogus and a brouhaha erupted, the Guardian writes. More»

De Villepin will be grilled over Sarkozy smear campaign

(NEWSER) - Dominique de Villepin, France's former PM and a longtime rival of president Nicolas Sarkozy, will undergo a formal investigation for his alleged role in improperly smearing Sarkozy. De Villepin denies involvement in the scandal which may also implicate former president Jacques Chirac, but the announcement is seen as a step towards criminal charges. More»

Ex-Chirac official is also president's jogging buddy

(NEWSER) - Nicolas Sarkozy named chief campaign adviser Francois Fillon his prime minister today, replacing firebrand Dominique de Villepin. Fillon, a right-of-center senator who directed an overhaul of France's pension system as a Chirac administration official, will lead Sarkozy's effort to institute reforms in employment and welfare laws. Fillon, whose wife is Welsh, is an "avowed Anglophile," the Telegraph reported. More»

President-elect has a packed first 40 days

(NEWSER) - Following last night’s victory over Nicolas Sarkozy , Francois Hollande will have to jump right in to his new role—he will be sworn in as France’s president next Tuesday, the BBC notes. What does his election mean?

• Hollande has vowed to renegotiate the eurozone budget treaty Sarkozy championed along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but the German government today is trying to cut that off at the pass, calling it “not possible.”
• Though Hollande's election has fueled hope among many French hungry for jobs, economic growth, and the end of austerity, he faces the same debt problems Sarkozy did. Der Spiegel notes that Hollande knows just how tough is the job ahead of him: Rather than appearing celebratory last night, the unsmiling victor “seemed tired, weak, and overwhelmed,” the paper reports.