Word: balladur
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...Sarkozy has been in tough spots before. In 1995, he backed Edouard Balladur, not Chirac, for President, and had to work his way back into the good books - just about - of Chirac and his circle. In 1999, he led his party to a disastrous defeat in European parliamentary elections, and was again pitched into the political wilderness. Now, having reached the pinnacle of French politics, Sarkozy is perversely back at rock bottom. His approval rating has dropped from 64% in September to just 39% this month...
...Chirac has plenty of reasons to have an aversion to Sarkozy. The younger man turned on the president before the elections of 1995 and backed a rival, Edouard Balladur, who then faded as Chirac rebounded and won. Sarkozy preaches a "rupture" with France's recent past, over most of which Chirac has presided. Sarkozy even went to Washington in September to meet with George Bush and criticized the "sterile grandiloquence" of France's 2003 rejection of the invasion of Iraq - which marked the apogee of Chirac's now dimmed popularity...
...Monde, by veteran journalists Pierre Péan and Philippe Cohen. Their allegations were sensational: a corrupt relationship with the head of the police union; gifts to Colombani for giving media training to a mayor; a pattern of blatantly favoring certain politicians (such as hapless 1995 presidential candidate Edouard Balladur). In June Le Monde agreed not to proceed with libel lawsuits against the authors, who in turn agreed not to republish their book, but the damage was done. The paper's finances may be in worse shape than its reputation. It is carrying debt of at least €110 million...
What's the French for "get over it"? Don't bother asking the defenders of France's lovely and beloved language. A decade after the government of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur passed a law requiring the use of French in all government documents, business contracts, restaurant menus and advertisements, the champions of francophonie again have their culottes in a twist over the threat posed by the rampant spread of English. Opposition flared last month over a new proposal to make English instruction compulsory in French schools. Guardians of the language issued a manifesto calling on the E.U. to make French...
...episode poisoned their relationship. The two men "hate each other," one Sarkozy adviser says bluntly. "Chirac will never forgive Sarkozy for Balladur, and wants to block his career." Chirac, 72, has not said whether he will seek a third term in 2007, but a clash with Sarkozy seems inevitable. By April 2002, Chirac was having some of his own popularity issues, and Sarkozy had restored enough of his luster for a return to government. But he brought more than just new energy and unbridled ambition to the Interior Ministry; he brought his wife, Cécilia...