French FM Alliot-Marie looks set to be fired
France’s embattled Foreign Affairs Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie insists that she is not about to be fired, despite a series of gaffes concerning the revolts in Tunisia and the Arab world. But the prestigious daily Le Monde quotes insiders saying that she will be gone by Monday.
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“It’s true that for several weeks there have been polemics, rumours and that it’s very unpleasant,” Alliot-Marie told France Info radio. “But I’ve explained all that. There were no illegal actions, no misdemeanours.”
And, in an article on Le Monde’s website, she mocks the “courageous, anonymous” group of former diplomats who signed an open letter criticising French diplomacy, defending the foreign service as “clear, lucid” and “consistent”.
But after publishing Alliot-Marie’s defence of her record, Le Monde journalists spoke to government ministers – anonymous again – who predicted that Alliot-Marie will be sacked this weekend, probably to be replaced by Defence Minister Alain Juppé or former prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
“The polls are disastrous,” one said. “That proves that she’s the problem.”
The presidential palace refused to comment on Friday morning.
There were further revelations on Friday about Aziz Melid – the associate of deposed President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali whose jet she used on holiday.
The Mediapart website reported that his company has been accused of transporting mercenaries to put down the anti-Moamer Kadhafi uprising in Libya. A company official denied they were mercenaries, pointing out that they were wearing flip-flops, the site said.
Alliot-Marie’s partner, Partick Ollier, is a former chairman of the Committee for Franco-Libyan Friendship in the French parliament.
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