Let them be guillotined!

While all the attention is focused on the French finance minister ‘scandal’, the real stuff goes almost unnoticed: namely the dismissal of the case against former-mayor of Paris, Jean Tiberi for “lack of evidence”.

Now, interestingly, the case is still open for 49 people accused of ‘corrupting officials’ but all the politicians involved have simply disappeared from the case.

This is the last chapter of a series of alledged corruption and scandals involving the Conservatives when they were in power in Paris between 1977 and 1995 - not only the Tibéris, but also former Prime Minister Alain Juppé( ‘who got away with a very light sentence), and even French President Jacques Chirac, who used his ‘immunity’ right to even refuse to be heard as a ‘witness’.

Here’s a (probably incomplete) list:

• Fictional jobs in government offices (in the City of Paris and in Essonne)
• Illegal use of government services
• Usage of City of Paris gardening services for private purposes
• Manipulated biddings for public procurement (Hauts de Seine housing projects, Paris public housing projects, High schools of the Paris region) There was a shock when a videocassette of businessman Jean-Claude Méry was disclosed after his death. In this videocassette, Méry gives many details about the kickback schemes in the Paris region; in particular, he says that he delivered FRF 5 million in cash to Jacques Chirac.
• And the icing on the cake in politics is the vote rigging (In several districts of Paris, people were allegedly illegally registered on the electoral rolls in an attempt to modify the outcome of elections.)

So really, take your pick.... No wonder why the French go bizurk when some politician plays the victim. No wonder, they want to hand them all (or rather ‘guillotine’ them). It’s actually a wonder how things can keep so quiet. So it seems the French finance minister ‘scandal’ is a mere distraction.

Now Tiberi has announced his intention to run for the next elections in Paris. Can you believe it? And you know – he will find some sukers to vote for him and may even elected.

The fact that Tiberi is Corsican has probably nothing to do with his mob-style politics, and in any case, there is one comforting thought – there is always Italy!