president ! president !

with all the burgeoning talk of the upcoming 2007 presidential election in France, I thought I'd ease myself into a political frame of mind by watching the recent France 2 documentary about Jacques Chirac. It was the talk of the town when it was shown in late October (seriously, I participated in multiple talks about it. in bars. on a Friday night), and I felt it would give me some insight into a very complex public figure. To people my age it might seem like the guy's been there forever, and this doc does nothing to dispel the notion. Presented in two parts, one focusing on the pre-1975 years (title: "the young wolf"), the other on the period since then ("the old lion"), the object of this program was to present a complete view on Chirac's accomplishments, bungles, and overall evolution. Chirac's been a part of French political life for so long (basically since the early 50s), it's quite fascinating to see how much his staying power has owed not only to his personal ambition but also to back-room wheeling and dealing on his part by different party elders.

The major impression I got after watching the whole thing was that although the current president of France has become somewhat of a caricature today, he has been one of the more impressive figures of the last 50 years in French politics. Apart from Francois Mitterand, who had his share of shady dealings, I don't know of anyone who has managed to adapt to ever-changing conditions yet remain true to his basic commitment to serving his country. I do not mean this particularly as a compliment, but simply because that's the feeling I get from everything I've read/hear/seen about him. You definitely get the impression that corruption was never far from the surface, especially during his years as mayor of Paris in the 80s and 90s, but looking at his entire work gives a more nuanced view. After all, he did do some good things like create the national unemployment agency ANPE (now the epitome of bureaucratic slowness, but a really good idea all the same), and apart from a single incident has always made it clear that he was completely against the extreme-right Front National party, something a few of his right-wing peers have not always been willing to do in tight election situations.

But since the last 20 years of his career have been marred by so many scandals and alleged corruption stories, the global view of his career has been marred, perhaps definitely. I don't particularly like him, but after watching this documentary I definitely kind of respect and understand what he's experienced a lot more than before. Yes he is stiff, yes he is a bit too loyal, but those character traits have mostly gotten worse as the years have gone on. I still would like him to face a real inquiry into what exactly his role was in those property scandals that happened while he was mayor of Paris, but I don't believe he was corrupted in the sense of increasing his personal wealth point of view, at least not more than anyone in that position would. While that doesn't make it excusable, that view is a bit more subdued than the ultra-shady and super-controlling figure that he has been portrayed as. Also, he gets criticized a lot for not doing much since becoming president, but if people agreed with the work of his prime ministers they wouldn't care about that. In France a president is mostly there for show, and the shaking of hands (of foreign dignitaries, old people and children), an activity at which Chirac seems to be especially good at, and fond of. So if you had to criticize him as president it would be mostly for picking his government heads too much based on his personal appreciation of them and not necessarily on their merits.

Of course it is quite probable that the real truth will never emerge, since that is the way things go when it comes to French politics. In that sense it was a pleasant surprise to see that this documentary was shown on a public channel, in prime-time. Programs like this are part of a healthy discourse on the role and work of our politicians, and though I wouldn't want to watch them too often (The Life and Times of Jack Lang, anyone ?), I'm glad they're made and not relegated to the late-night time slots.