Chirac, the “friendliest” of the Fifth Republic – Echoes

+ VIDEO According to a poll Ifop-Paris Match, the refusal of the former head of state to engage in the Iraq war in 2003 remains outstanding. It is always appreciated the French for his good nature and proximity to the peasantry.

Jacques Chirac is more popular than ever. According to an IFOP poll for Paris Match, the former president of the Republic is considered the “friendliest” of the Fifth Republic (33%) to François Mitterrand (21%) and Heathrow (17%). Georges Pompidou, his mentor, and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, his rival, collect only 8% of the votes (8%). Far behind Nicolas Sarkozy (7%) and Francois Hollande (5%) do not have the favor of the French.

Where does the nostalgia of the Chirac? The Corrézien, who served two terms in the Elysium, is acclaimed for its main feat of arms: his refusal to engage with the United States in the war in Iraq in 2003 (35% of the French). Some 14% of French also cite his refusal to enter into alliances with the FN and, equally from its proximity to the peasant world.

Icon Youth

Looking back, the French seem to be keeping the image of a chair near the people – we remember his passion for rendezvous Fair of Agriculture or his taste for walkabouts. Jacques Chirac, 82 years old and weakened by disease, is now the subject of a nostalgic form of worship, especially by the youth. So much so that the weekly “The Economist” was astonished last March that it makes “a strange comeback as a fashion icon.”

T-shirts the effigy of former President of the Republic – Hollande is offered on a Tuesday during his visit to the manufacturer of sportswear Wrung – sites dedicated to cult phrases and key moments of his presidency, Facebook fan pages: Jacques Chirac seems to have become a figure embodying an era and a generation. A media-constructed character, enjoyed almost the same way as a caricature of the Puppets

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Balance “inglorious”

The French seem, however, to have almost forgotten his wrong course in 1997 when he took the decision to dissolve the National Assembly ( cited by 7% of respondents only), resulting in a de facto cohabitation, or its decision to abolish military service. As well as its balance sheet “not yet glorious,” noted “The Economist”.

Under his presidency, “unemployment reached 10%, the deficits increased, the French said no to Europe and the suburbs are inflamed. On leaving the Elysee, Chirac was even accused of embezzlement as a former mayor of Paris in the 1990s, “recalled the weekly.

Alain Juppe, the heir

Among his heirs, the French put in his head, his former Prime Minister Alain Juppé (45%). Called “best of us” by Jacques Chirac, mayor of Bordeaux ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy (25%), Baroin (11%) and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (5%).

Francois Hollande, whose corrézien tropism is often cited as a comparison with the former president – who had even called to vote for him in 2012 – did not appear at all in the eyes of French as a possible heir.

Among the former prime ministers of Jacques Chirac, the French plébiscitent the Socialist Lionel Jospin (35%) ahead of Alain Juppé (30%), Dominique de Villepin (17%) and John -Pierre Raffarin (15%).