French press review 23 September 2011

Is Sarkozy protesting too much over the Karachi affair? Will the Socialists make political capital out of it? Did anyone notice the president had made a UN speech on the Palestinians?

The papers are awash with reactions to the criminal investigation into two former aides to President Nicolas Sarkozy in the so-called Karachi affair.

Aujourd’hui en France/Le Parisien reports that businessman Nicolas Bazire and Thierry Gaubert are charged for the "misuse of public funds” and suspected illegal campaign funding.

The paper explains that prosecutors suspect that Sarkozy's mentor Edouard Balladur funded his 1995 presidential campaign through kickbacks paid by middlemen in a Pakistani submarine contract. Controversy over the arms deal erupted when investigators began probing whether a 2002 bomb attack in Karachi that killed 11 French engineers working on the project was a revenge attack for promised bribes not paid.

Le Parisien underlines that Bazire was Balladur's once chief of staff and campaign manager while Gaubert worked for Sarkozy as an adviser when he was mayor of Neuilly and later minister. According to the newspaper, witnesses have told investigators that Nicolas Bazire had a large safe stuffed with cash during the 1995 campaign.

The sleaze claims seem to be hurting Sarkozy's reelection hopes seven months to next year’s presidential elections. Le Figaro posts a strongly worded statement from the Elysée presidential palace denouncing what it says is a campaign of "slander and petty political manipulation" against Sarkozy. The paper argues that he did not manage Edouard Balladur's campaign and never exercised the slightest authority in the financing of this campaign.

Some newspapers express surprise at the panic that has taken hold of the Elysée since the two Sarkozy aides were placed under investigation. Libération holds that Sarkozy apparently made a clumsy attempt to distance himself from the dossier, in which his name keep coming up. It points to the Elysée press release stating that Sarkozy’s name does not appear in any part of the Karachi dossier either as a suspect or as an actor.

Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace wonders how the presidency knew Sarkozy's name had not come up in a supposedly secret independent judicial probe, a matter of hours after Bazire had been released from questioning.

Eastern regional paper L'Est Républicain suggests that, while at a time of storm attack is the best of defences, the surrealistic reaction betrays the atmosphere of panic that prevails at the Elysée.

Some of Friday’s papers say the Socialists stand poised to make political gain out of the scandal. Western regional paper La Charente Libre says Former Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius speaks about the bad smell rising from the affair, while and presidential hopeful Martine Aubry one of the worst scandals of the fifth republic.

The paper says the charges set the tone for a campaign theme of a suffocating republic instead of the irreproachable one promised by Sarkozy on his election in 2007. The economic newspaper Les Echos is also alarmed by the dimension taken by the scandal. It believes the offensive by the Socialists has placed the majority in an embarrassing situation.

The charges against the two Sarkozy allies completely overshadowed Sarkozy's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on the Middle East crisis, says left-leaning Libération. The paper argues that the decision by Mahmud Abbas to submit his demand for Palestinian nationhood to the UN is legitimate and a big political gamble which embarrasses stakeholders and reduces any room for manoeuvre.

According to Libé, France’s appeal for a temporary Vatican-like status for Palestine, at least for now, is an astute move that will not humiliate the Palestinian leader.

La Croix advocates for the Palestinians’ right to have a state of their own, explaining that it is long overdue and several countries are in favour of it, including the United States. Palestine’s request for international recognition it argues, is the culmination of a long process and the symbol of exasperation and frustration after years of failed negotiations.

La Presse de la Manche, a Normandy regional paper, regrets that old habits die hard in the Middle East. The regional newspaper believes peace and a Palestinian state are not for tomorrow. According to the La Presse, there’s a blatant lack of will by the powerbrokers to make peace. The paper points to President Barack Obama’s obligation to stand by Israel as he faces a difficult reelection.

The newspaper says it is now obvious there won’t be a miracle solution to the Middle East conflict. It holds that the rejection of the Palestinians’ legitimate right for a stable, recognised nation like Israel is bound to lead to another “cycle of violence”.