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Charles Pasqua

 
Political Biography: Charles Pasqua
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(b. 18 Apr. 1927) French; Interior Minister 1986 – 8, 1993 – 5 The son of a policeman, and Corsican by origin, Pasqua fought in the Resistance and for twenty years combined a successful career in the Ricard drinks company with close involvement in the Gaullist organizations of the Fourth and Fifth Republics. He enjoyed the murkier elements of political activity and cultivated a reputation as a plain-speaking right-winger. He took up full-time politics in 1968, when he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the rich Paris suburb of Hauts-de-Seine, where he established a solid political base as Senator (from 1977) and president of the departmental council. A close ally of Chirac, whose 1981 presidential campaign he organized, he was recognized as the strong man of the neo-Gaullist Rassemblement pour la Republique. His muscular nationalism made him the obvious choice for Interior Minister in Chirac's 1986 government with the task of winning back conservative support from the far right Le Pen by emphasizing the toughness of the government's policy towards immigrants and terrorists. The failure of Chirac's 1988 presidential campaign led Pasqua, for the first time, to strike out on his own as the spokesman for populist Gaullism against the technocratic élite which he claimed had betrayed it. He built up his own power base within the RPR and, together with Seguin, led an effective campaign in 1992 against the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty which Chirac felt bound to support. Back at the Interior Ministry in the 1993 Balladur government, with the same mission he had had in 1986, his plain man's rumbustiousness won him considerable popularity amongst an electorate obsessed with law and order issues. He did not hesitate to intervene in issues beyond his portfolio and was regarded as a Deputy Prime Minister. He made a serious miscalculation, however, in backing Balladur rather than his erstwhile champion Chirac for the 1995 presidential election. The latter's victory ensured his departure from office, though it did not consign him to the wilderness.

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Charles Pasqua (1987)

Charles Pasqua (born 18 April 1927) is a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur. He was first elected deputy of the UDR Gaullist party in 1968, ten years after having founded the Service d'Action Civique (SAC) organisation. Counsellor of Jacques Chirac alongside Marie-France Garaud, he was in charge of the organisation of Chirac's campaign for the 1981 presidential election, won by the candidate of the Socialist Party (PS), François Mitterrand (1981-1995). As such, he is considered to be Chirac's mentor in politics. However, he broke with Chirac before the 1995 presidential election, supporting against him the candidacy of Edouard Balladur for the neo-Gaullist party, the Rally for the Republic (RPR). He created in 1999 the euro-sceptic Rally for France and European Independence (RPF) party and allied himself with Philippe de Villiers's Movement for France (MPF) party for the 1999 European elections. President of the General Council of the Hauts-de-Seine from 1988 to 2004, he broke with de Villiers after his success at these elections, arriving second after the Socialist Party. President of the Union for Europe of the Nations at the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004, he was re-elected Senator of the Hauts-de-Seine in 2004 on the list of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP, successor to the RPR), a function which he had already held from 1977 to 1986, then from 1988 to 1993, and finally from 1995 to 1999.

Pasqua has been involved in various political scandals, including the Angolagate arms trafficking scandal, involving Pierre Falcone, the Sofremi affair, the Annemasse casino affair, another affair concerning the moving of the headquarters of Alstom company, as well as the Fondation Hamon affair. He has denied receiving money from Saddam Hussein's government during the course of the Oil-for-Food Programme, following the publication of his name in 2004 on the list published by Al Mada. On 27 October 2009, Pasqua was convicted for his role in the illegal arms sales to Angola. He was fined 100,000 euros and received a one year prison sentence.[1]

Contents

Life and political career

Pasqua was born in Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes and has a degree in Law. From 1952 to 1971 he worked for Ricard, a producer of alcoholic beverages (most notably pastis), starting as a salesman.

In 1947 he helped create the section of the Gaullist Party RPF movement for the Alpes-Maritimes.

With Jacques Foccart, he helped create the Service d'Action Civique (SAC) in 1959 to counter the terrorist actions of the OAS during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962). The SAC would be charged with the underground actions of the Gaullist movement and participated in the organization of the 30 May 1968 Gaullist counter-demonstration; it was officially dissolved by President Mitterrand in 1982, after the "Auriol massacre" on the night of 18 July 1981 (the five members of the Auriol commando were condemned on 1 May 1985 to sentences between 15 years of prison and life-sentences; however, the mastermind behind inspector Massié's murder was never identified).[2]

From 1968 to 1973, he was deputy to the French National Assembly for the Hauts-de-Seine département for the UDR party, of which he was a leading member from 1974 to 1976. He helped Jacques Chirac to take the lead of the party and participated in its transformation into the Rally for the Republic (RPR).

From 1981 to 1986 he was senator for the Hauts-de-Seine, then president of the RPR group in the Senate.

From 1986 to 1988 he was Interior Minister (in charge of law enforcement). The left-wing opposition claimed, in vain, his resignation after the murder of Malik Oussekine by police, during the demonstration of young against the Devaquet law. He incarnated the "hard wing" of the Neo-Gaullist party, and tried to stop the flight of the RPR voters towards the National Front.

After Chirac's defeat at the 1988 presidential election, he criticized the abandonment of the Gaullist doctrine and the so moderate positions of the RPR. In 1990, he allied with Philippe Séguin and disputed Chirac's leadership. In 1992, he called a vote against the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty.

He became Interior Minister again from 1993 to 1995, and supported the candidacy of Edouard Balladur at the 1995 presidential election. He is mostly remembered for having pushed a series of anti-immigration laws (lois Pasqua), and for his declaration "we will terrorize the terrorists." He expelled CIA agents on charges of economic espionage.[3]

Pasqua distanced himself in 1998 from RPR and Jacques Chirac, arguing that Chirac was not a true heir of Gaullism. He then headed the Rally for France (RPF), a sovereignist (Eurosceptic) party, for a while in association with Philippe de Villiers. At the 1999 European Parliament election, their list got ahead of the RPR list. However, his alliance with de Villiers split.

In 2002 he ran for president, but dropped out after allegedly failing to obtain the 500 representatives' signatures needed to enter the race. Many suspect that he decided not to run because Jean-Marie Le Pen's presence in the election did not leave him enough political space.

In 2003 he was elected a deputy to the European parliament. In 2004, he was elected senator by an electoral college. Many commentators alleged that this senate position, granting parliamentary immunity, was motivated by prosecution closing on Pasqua with respect to corruption practices in the Hauts-de-Seine département.

Charles Pasqua did not run in the 2007 presidential election.

Corruption scandals

See also: Corruption scandals in the Paris region

He was named in corruption scandals concerning the public housing projects of the Hauts-de-Seine.

In 2004 his name appeared on the list, published by al Mada, of people who allegedly received corruption money from Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq during the course of the Oil-for-Food Program.

Following the publication of the Al Mada article, a US Senate report accused him, along with the British Respect MP, George Galloway, of receiving the right to buy oil under the UN's oil-for-food scheme. Pasqua denied the charges and pointed out that he never met Saddam Hussein, never been to Iraq and never cultivated any political ties with that country. In a lengthy written rebuttal to the Senate report, Charles Pasqua pointed out further that since the oil vouchers were lifted by a legal entity incorporated in a European country, it should be relatively easy for investigators to uncover the masterminds behind the fraud instead of making accusations based on "sensational" press articles.

The investigations concerning the Annemasse casino affair and the move to Saint-Ouen of the headquarter of GEC-Alstom's transport subsidiary were closed in February 2007.[4] In the first affair, which dates back to 1994 while he was Interior Minister of Edouard Balladur, Pasqua was suspected of having delivered an administrative authorization to operate a casino in Annemasse to Robert Feliciaggi in exchange for future political funding. Robert Felliciagi was assassinated in March 2006 in Ajaccio, Corsica. He had resold the casino in 1995, making an important profit.[4] In the second affair concerning Alstom, Etienne Léandri, a friend of Pasqua's, reportedly received an illegal commission of 5.2 million Francs (790,000 euros).[4]

The Sofremi affair is still under investigation. It concerns monies paid between 1993 to 1995 by the Sofremi, a weapons exporter attached the Ministry of Interior, to people close to Pasqua.[4]

Along with André Santini, Pasqua was also the subject of investigations concerning an affair related to the Jean Hamon donation. A wealthy mecene, Jean Hamon, had donated in 2000 to the department of the Hauts-de-Seine 192 works of art, estimated to be worth 192 millions euros. The Hauts-de-Seine, then led by Pasqua, was supposed to create a museum for them in Issy-les-Moulineaux, but the project was abandoned. An investigation was opened in 2003 when a judge based in Versailles asked herself why the Hauts-de-Seine department had paid for the care of these works of art, for a total amount of 800,000 euros, while they were still stored in a castle owned by the billionaire. Since the department continued to pay for a year after Nicolas Sarkozy's take-over of the department's general council, the affair may also involve him.[5] Sarkozy won the 2007 presidential election as the UMP candidate.

Search Wikinews Wikinews has related news: U.S. Senate accuses UK and French politicians of accepting oil vouchers from Saddam Hussein

Political career

Governmental functions

Minister of Interior : 1986-1988 Minister of State, minister of Interior and Planning : 1993-1995

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament : 1999-2004. Elected in 1999.

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Hauts-de-Seine : 1968-1973.

Senate of France

President of the group of the Rally for the Republic : 1981-1986 (Became minister) / 1988-1993 (Became minister).

Senator of Hauts-de-Seine : 1977-1986 (Became minister in 1986) / Reelected in 1986, but he stays minister / 1988-1993 (Became minister in 1993) / 1995-1999 (Became member of European Parliament in 1999) / And since 2004. Elected in 1977, reelected in 1986, 1988, 1995, 2004.

General Council

General councillor of Hauts-de-Seine : 1970-1976 / 1988-2004 (Resignation). Reelected in 1988, 1994, 2001.

President of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine : 1973-1976 / 1988-2004. Reelected in 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001.

Municipal Council

Municipal councillor of Neuilly-sur-Seine : 1983-2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

See also

References

  1. ^ Angolagate : un an de prison ferme pour Charles Pasqua, in Le Figaro, 27/10/2009 (French)
  2. ^ "Un beau travail d'action civique", in Le Canard Enchaîné #4441, 7 December 2005
  3. ^ CIA 1995-1996 Economic Espionage in France (English)
  4. ^ a b c d Pasqua : l'étau se resserre, L'Humanité, 21 February 2007 (French)
  5. ^ Libération, 29 January 2007, "Sarkozy exposé dans une affaire de musée fantôme" available here

External links

Preceded by
Pierre Joxe		 Minister of the Interior
1986-1988		 Succeeded by
Pierre Joxe
Preceded by
Paul Quilès		 Minister of the Interior
1993-1995		 Succeeded by
Jean-Louis Debré

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