French President Jacques Chirac ended his last full day in office yesterday with a farewell address to a nation he has led for 12 years, and that he left in a state of malaise about its place in the global economy and world affairs.

 

 

France's President Jacques Chirac (L) looks on as Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris after his resignation May 15, 2007.

 

It's a poignant moment for Chirac, closing out four decades as a fixture in French politics without leaving an obvious heir. One of his most die-hard loyalists, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, submitted his resignation yesterday after a bruising two years as premier that saw his own presidential ambitions shrivel.

 

The debonair 74-year-old Chirac turns over power to tough-talking fellow conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, a protege-turned-rival who won election on pledges of a break with the past. After that, Chirac's attentions will turn to a new international foundation.

 

Aides say the foundation, similar to that of former US President Bill Clinton, would focus on sustainable development and dialogue between cultures, with a particular emphasis on Africa. It is to be launched later this year.

 

Chirac sought to bring environmental issues into the spotlight during his presidency, though critics say he had more words than action on the subject.

 

He often stressed cultural understanding over exporting Western values -- a stance that Sarkozy distanced himself from in an election-night speech in which he said France would stand beside those oppressed by fundamentalism.

 

France's relations with Africa are likely to be less close with the departure of Chirac, who nurtured ties with former French colonies in Africa -- and was criticized for cozying up to some authoritarian African leaders. Sarkozy has few such connections.

 

Chirac often shone brighter on the world stage than at home, where he failed to push through many of his promised reforms.

 

His farewell also opens Chirac up to possible questioning by investigators probing corruption allegations that have gathered dust while he enjoyed presidential immunity.

 

Chirac founded the neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic party, today transformed into the Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, that Sarkozy headed before being elected president on May 6.

 

The outgoing president built up the mainstream right into a powerful political machine that, along with the Socialist Party, are the dominating forces in French politics. His ambitious search for funds for his party is at the heart of the corruption allegations, involving illegal party financing.

 

Chirac said his goodbye to Europe on a visit to Berlin on May 3. At his last big EU gathering in March, he insisted on the need for a strong role for Europe in a "multipolar" world -- an issue that was a mainstay of foreign policy under Chirac. He most famously pressed the idea in leading opposition to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

 

Chirac also famously misjudged French voters by staging a referendum on the European constitution that he had championed in 2005. The French and Dutch rejections of the treaty have stalled European integration efforts since.

 

French newspapers published testimonials yesterday to Chirac's mixed legacy. The cover of left-leaning Liberation, long critical of conservative Chirac, showed his hand waving from car window under the headline "Chirac Gets Away."

 

The only other president to issue a televized farewell to the nation was Valery Giscard d'Estaing, on May 19, 1981, before turning over power to Socialist President Francois Mitterrand. With a much remembered final "au revoir," Giscard stood, made an exit and left an empty chair in the spotlight.

 

(China Daily May 16, 2007)