Defiant Chirac under fire for French PM defence

Paris, Jun 27: President Jacques Chirac's staunch defence of his beleaguered Prime Minister won him few plaudits today as critics accused him of being out of touch, out of ideas and out of time.

Chirac gave a rare television interview yesterday evening to throw his weight behind gaffe-prone Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, praising the government for its economic record and minimising deep divisions within his own ruling majority.

But his defiant, upbeat message was belittled by opposition politicians, much of the media and even by some his own conservative deputies in the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

''The disparity between what he sees and what the French and the parliamentarians see is striking,'' Pierre Lellouche, UMP parliamentarian told Le Parisien daily.

Chirac was forced onto the offensive after a disastrous spell for Villepin, who has stumbled from one row to another this year, most recently last week when he had to apologise for calling the Socialist party leader a coward.

The president accused the media of whipping up political ferment and said the government was doing a fine job reducing unemployment and reviving the sluggish economy.

He also made clear that Villepin, whose popularity stands at near record lows in the opinion polls, would stay in office until the presidential and parliamentary elections set for 2007.

FANTASIES

But political analysts said his rosy vision was out of kilter with the reality and warned that France was likely to achieve little in the months ahead of the twin ballots.

''Jacques Chirac has once again shown his talent and ability for taking a few grains of truth and creating a false, unreal universe when confronted by adversity from the real world,'' said Pierre Luc Seguillon, veteran commentator on LCI television.

Editorials in the French press were equally damning.

''What is terrible with Jacques Chirac is that he hears nothing, understands nothing and sees nothing,'' regional newspaper L'Est Republicain wrote.

Amidst the wave of criticism, some supporters stood up for the president, applauding him for portraying France in a positive light and for setting out a roadmap for the year ahead, including a further push to cut unemployment and delinquency.

''Yesterday we saw him act as a boss, laying out the political priorities. Our role is to fulfil those priorities for the French people,'' Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told Europe 1 radio.

But such praise tended to be drowned out by the critics, who poked fun at Chirac for a couple of lapses, such as talking about an Airbus A370 plane which doesn't exist, and said the president was running out of steam after 11 years in power.

REUTERS