Chirac wins brief respite in the latest financial scandal

President Jacques Chirac enjoyed a brief respite in his troubles with French justice yesterday when a senior prosecutor said he should not be called as a witness in the most recent financial scandal to shake the Elysee Palace.

But the first lady, Mrs Bernadette Chirac, and the couple's daughter Claude - who is her father's media adviser - are expected to be summoned this week. Both women benefited from the "cash-for-air-fares" scandal, in which the Chirac family, under the pseudonym "Bernolin-Pierac", purchased £291,597 worth of airline tickets with bundles of 500-franc banknotes in 1992-95.

While Mr Chirac was still mayor of Paris, the family enjoyed cash holidays in Hong Kong, New York - via Concorde - and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. The Elysee portrays the President's wife and daughter as victims of media and judiciary harassment, but privately presidential staff have described their expected summons as disastrous. Mr Chirac's rivals on the right compare the case to the diamonds-from-Bokassa scandal that made Valery Giscard d'Estaing lose the 1981 election.

Until now, Mr Chirac was suspected only of illicit party fund-raising. This is the first time he has been accused of benefiting personally from corruption. A poll published by Le Monde yesterday shows that, while 71 per cent of French people say their opinion of Mr Chirac has not changed, 64 per cent believe he should have to explain where the cash came from. The President will be questioned about the scandal in his annual Bastille Day interview on July 14th.

The Paris prosecutor, Mr Jean-Pierre Dintilhac, said last week there was no reason why Mr Chirac should not be questioned as a witness in the airfare scandal. But yesterday the Paris appeals court prosecutor, Mr Jean-Louis Nadal, said his colleague's conclusion was "debatable" and that presidential immunity meant summoning Mr Chirac would create "risks of irregularities".

In the President's defence, the Elys ee had said the cash represented "bonuses" left over from Mr Chirac's time as prime minister and in several cabinet positions. The MEP, Mr Thierry Jean-Pierre, revealed recently that since 1946 top-ranking French leaders have received nearly £50 million in cash from the Banque de France every year, known as fonds speciaux or "special funds".

A little over half of the cash is given to French secret services. The rest is divided up between the president, prime minister and cabinet ministers. They are not required to account for the money, and pay no tax on it.

The Elysee's statement implied that Mr Chirac's travel money was left-over fonds speciaux - apparent confirmation of Mr Jean-Pierre's allegation that taxpayers' money is used to finance election campaigns, entertain friends and send flowers to mistresses.

The French right is trying to distract attention from Mr Chirac's airline tickets by demanding that the fonds speciaux be frozen. Leaders of three centre-right parties announced yesterday they are presenting a draft law to end the slush fund.

The Socialists swear they have not touched the money for party use and stress that Mr Chirac - not the Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin - has used the existence of special funds as an argument in his own defence. Yet Mr Jospin's reluctance to stop the practice led the right to accuse him of not wanting "to kill the goose that lays golden eggs" in the run-up to next year's presidential election.