Man with a mission rekindles memories of 1789 Revolution

Arnaud Montebourg is a man with a mission. The 39year-old socialist member of the National Assembly is determined to clean up French politics in general and impeach President Jacques Chirac in particular.

While in hospital with meningitis this month, Mr Montebourg continued his crusade by telephone. On May 21st, he sent 576 fellow deputies his "Proposed resolution towards sending Monsieur Jacques Chirac who occupies the function of President of the Republic before the investigative commission of the High Court of Justice".

Two days later, the text went on sale in Paris bookshops. "How could we explain to our compatriots that crimes committed by presidents Joseph Estrada [of the Philippines], Alberto Fujimori [of Peru] and Richard Nixon . . . are subject to legal action," Mr Montebourg concluded, "but we can find no one in France to judge President Jacques Chirac and the serious offences of which he is suspected by the justice system?"

Thirty-one deputies have signed Mr Montebourg's impeachment motion - more than half of the 58 signatures required to bring the measure to a vote in the National Assembly. "They will sign it," Mr Montebourg predicted in an earlier book, "with trembling hand, panic-stricken. But they will sign it, because they still prefer the Republic of egalitarianism to that of injustice."

If a vote in the National Assembly is a long shot, trying Mr Chirac on charges of using public funds to finance his party is virtually impossible, since the conservative senate would have to agree. The Montebourg motion has nonetheless enraged the Elysee and embarrassed the ruling socialists.

Young Turk, hot-head, loose cannon and serial cleaner are a few of the terms used to describe Mr Montebourg. He considers himself a refusnik. With a hint of menace, the right compare him to the 19th century anarchist Ravachol, who was guillotined. "A second-rate Saint-Just," says a Chirac loyalist, referring to the 1789 revolutionary - who was also guillotined.

Revolutionary metaphors crop up often. "You're doing to Jacques Chirac what your predecessors did to Louis XVI," said an anonymous letter received by a socialist deputy who signed the motion. Mr Montebourg has written: "On the day of the solemn vote in the National Assembly, when the ushers hold the urn into which each parliamentarian drops his ballot for or against impeachment, the death of the king shall be re-enacted." The Assembly will split, he says, between "new royalists" and those who are "passionately republican".

Mr Montebourg argues that the French justice system makes examples of ordinary citizens while politicians make cosy deals to let each other off. Two magistrates found evidence tending to implicate Mr Chirac in bribe-taking for public works contracts while he was mayor of Paris, and using city funds to pay party workers. But both judges came up against the insuperable obstacle of presidential immunity.

In his book The Betrayal Ma- chine, Mr Montebourg accuses Mr Chirac of exchanging favours with the former socialist foreign minister Mr Roland Dumas. The verdict in Mr Dumas's corruption trial will be handed down today. As president of the Constitutional Council until March 1999, Mr Dumas ruled that the head of state was immune from prosecution for all crimes except high treason. In exchange, Mr Montebourg alleges, Mr Chirac long supported Mr Dumas.

Fearing that Mr Montebourg might undermine Mr Chirac's candidacy for a second term in office, the Elysee mounted a counter-offensive. The leaders of the centre-right RPR, UDF and DL parties issued a joint statement accusing Mr Montebourg of acting "with the personal approval of Lionel Jospin".

The first lady, Bernadette Chirac, known for her tireless charity work, went on evening television news to report on her campaign for children's hospitals. Mrs Chirac had been warned that the anchorman would ask about the Montebourg initiative. "I share the life of a man who has given the essence of his existence to State service, to public service, to serving others," she responded with a saintly air. "So you see, at the moment I feel a little bit revolted."

Socialist party hacks have fretted publicly that the right has plenty of ammunition to use against the left if Mr Montebourg persists. To defuse the crisis, the socialist group in the National Assembly yesterday discussed legislation making the French president accountable to ordinary courts for offences unconnected with his office.

The law will be debated on June 12th, but has no chance of taking effect before next year's election. And in case you're wondering, a spokesman insisted that the tame text has nothing, but absolutely nothing, to do with the legal status of President Chirac.