President Jacques Chirac reacted with fury last night to a political bombshell published by Le Monde. Four days before a referendum on which Mr Chirac has staked his prestige, he found himself accused of corruption by a dead man.
France's newspaper of record devoted three pages to a videocassette describing the illegal funding of the RPR, the Gaullist party founded by Mr Chirac. Among other transactions, it recounts the delivery of 5 million francs (£600,240) in cash to Mr Chirac's office - in Mr Chirac's presence - when he was prime minister in 1986.
"I am indignant at this lie, at this outrage," Mr Chirac told a French television evening news broadcast. "There ought to be limits to calumny."
The cassette was recorded "in case something should happen to me" by Mr Jean-Claude Mery, a businessman and former member of the central committee of the RPR, in 1996. Mr Mery claimed he had collected between 35 and 40 million francs (£4.2 - £4.8 million) in commissions every year for seven years for the RPR. These were paid by companies who wanted to gain government contracts.
Because Mr Mery died of cancer last year, his testimony cannot be used as evidence. But Le Monde said that "after investigating, we have no doubt about its authenticity and its credibility."
The cassette shows a plump man in shirtsleeves, wearing a polka dot tie and braces, holding a sheaf of papers on his lap as he talks to the camera. "We worked solely under the orders of Jacques Chirac," he says.
On October 5th 1986, Mr Mery claimed, he sat opposite the then prime minister, Mr Chirac in the office of his chief aide, Mr Michel Roussin. Mr Chirac congratulated Mr Mery "because I knew how to earn money, but I also knew how to prepare the legal documents. . . That day, I put 5 million francs in cash directly on Mr Roussin's desk, in the presence of Mr Chirac."
Mr Chirac visited the Charentes region yesterday to campaign for a "yes" vote in Sunday's referendum on a five-year presidential term. Journalists travelling with him were kept at a distance and were not allowed to ask questions.
Mr Gerard Monate, a Socialist who acted as that party's "collector", confirmed one of Mr Mery's anecdotes; that a 10 million franc commission on a contract to build lycees in the Paris region was shared between the Gaullist, Socialist and Communist parties.
Mr Arnaud Hamelin, the documentary film producer who gave the cassette to Le Monde, approached several French television stations which refused to broadcast the tape. When Mr Mery recorded the video, he told Mr Hamelin that he feared for his safety and asked him to make it public if he died under suspicious circumstances. If he died of natural causes, he left it to the producer's discretion.
