A long-simmering scandal of phantom voters and rigged elections is beginning to bubble over in Paris.
Published:
10 June 2000 y., Saturday
A long-simmering scandal of phantom voters and rigged elections is beginning to bubble over in Paris, threatening legal action against Mayor Jean Tiberi and casting shadows over French President Jacques Chirac himself.
Delayed by legal chicanery and the burden caused by the investigation into the car-crash death of Princess Diana, the explosive probes are gathering speed just as Chirac and his Gaullist RPR party are gearing up for crucial elections. Interrogations began on Friday of 15 city officials, among them a top aide to Tiberi, on charges they stuffed electoral rolls in the city's third district with 859 non-resident voters to ensure a conservative victory in the 1989 race for City Hall.
Media muckraking has now turned up a secret police report listing 3,315 phantom voters in the fifth district, the Latin Quarter stronghold of Tiberi, who was Chirac's deputy mayor. Chirac was a municipal councilor from the fifth district.
While no firm link has been established, so many elements point toward Chirac Paris mayor from 1977 to 1995 -- that politicians and the press are increasingly calling for him to take a public stand on the issue.
Chirac, who used City Hall as the springboard for his election as president in 1995 and is aiming for re-election in 2002, enjoys immunity as head of state and has refused to comment on the fraud cases. But Tiberi, who denies any wrongdoing, does not have such immunity and legal experts say he could soon be investigated as well.
Šaltinis:
Le Monde
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The fate of blue fin tuna hangs in the balance this week as a complete ban on the trade is debated by MEPs.
more »
A $100 million pledge from the Government of Japan has helped to secure the funding base and launch the operational phase of two new climate programs supporting forest management and renewable energy investments in developing countries.
more »
Europeans quite happy with their personal situation, but less satisfied with economic and social climate in their country.
more »
Spain wishes to “make as much progress as possible” to ensure the EU becomes party to the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms soon, according to the Spanish Minister for Justice, Francisco Caamaño, at today's opening of a seminar on the challenges and possibilities arising from the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force.
more »
According to Belarusian tradition, a stork brings good fortune to the village it settles in while in western culture the stork is commonly associated with childbirth.
more »
The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an additional financing credit to the Republic of Moldova in the amount of US $20 million for the Social Investment Fund II Project.
more »
The Spanish Health and Social Policy Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, and the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, addressed the press in Madrid on the launch of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010.
more »
The European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU will tomorrow launch the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
more »
Smoking at a restaurant like this one in Spain could soon be a thing of the past. Spanish lawmakers want to stub out the habit in public places like bars and restaurants. But it's an unpopular proposal in a country where around 30 percent of the population smoke.
more »
As President of the European Economic and Social Committee, I would like, on behalf of all the Committee's members, to express my sympathy to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
more »