The 'aristo' as France's new P.M.

One of the reasons why the French voted ‘NO’ to the European Constitution is their feeling that French politicians are out of touch with their daily lives and earthly concerns (mainly unemployment). It has nothing to do with the text but that’s a fact.

Well, this morning Chirac made a decision whose irony should not espace you - he named his protégé, Dominique De Villepin as France’s new Prime Minister. Now, if you don’t know him, you may remember his face at the U.N when he strongly opposed the US over the war in Iraq. He was probably at the height of his popularity in France.

The irony though is that Villepin is the very essence of French elite, almost to the point of caricature, indeed he is:

• a career diplomat whograduated from the prestigious Ecole Nationale d'Administration.
• the son of a French politician who has himself never stood for elected office and who commands little party support.
• he is also a self-published poet and author of several books about contemporary French culture and a biography of Napoleon.
  

But the best part is that he has given the worst advice to Chirac, as BBC News reminded us:

for he is widely held responsible for Mr Chirac's 1997 dissolution of parliament which brought a Socialist-led government to power and began five years of "cohabitation" with the left.

If you think this is unfair, and that there is a chance de Villepin might be intellectually able to relate to the rest of us, 'common people', or if you think he may in some extraordinary fashion in touch with his time, well, think again and remember that.. :

Villepin positively worships Napoleon, and models himself after his hero. In a 600-page biography, Villepin wrote admiringly about the difference between great men like Napoleon and the “common run” of men.
And in praise of French nationalism, de Villepin wrote,
“The Gaullist adventure renewed the élan of [Napoleon's] Consulate through the restoration of a strong executive and the authority of the State, the same scorn for political parties and for compromise, a common taste for action, and an obsession with the general interest and the grandeur of France.”