In a break with French political tradition, Chirac has criticised his successor in his new memoirs.

"/> In a break with French political tradition, Chirac has criticised his successor in his new memoirs.

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Chirac criticises Sarkozy in his memoirs

In a break with French political tradition, Chirac has criticised his successor in his new memoirs.

Published: 8 June 2011 10:01 CEST

Chirac criticises Sarkozy in his memoirs

The attacks appear in the second volume of the memoirs, called Le temps presidentiel. Extracts are being published in a number of media outlets this week.

In Le Point, Chirac characterizes the President as “nervous, impetuous, brimming with ambition and not doubting anything, certainly not himself”. He mentions several conflicts the two had when Sarkozy was Chirac’s Interior Minister, a post he held until 2007.

“I refused to get involved in the test of strength that he tried to establish between us. I felt this could only be destructive to our institutions”. It was as Interior Minister that Sarkozy made his infamous comment after the riots in November 2005 that he would like to clear away the scum or rabble of the suburbs with a Kärcher high-powered hose. Chirac cites this as an example of his often “misplaced declarations”.

In another extract to be published in Le Nouvel Observateur, he describes the night of Sarkozy’s victory on May 6th 2007.

“We were all at the Elysée Palace with my wife, Bernadette, and my grandson Martin, to listen to the first declaration of the future Head of State. We all listened very carefully to each word, each sentence, hoping for the moment when he would say the name of the person he was succeeding and even to thank him for the support he had given. But this moment didn’t come. I didn’t show the slightest reaction, but it affected me and I knew from then where I stood.”

Not all the former President’s assessments are bad. Chirac also acknowledges Sarkozy’s qualities, his strong work ethic and his talent for the media and describes him as “one of the most gifted politicians of his generation”.

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France's Uyghurs say Xi visit a 'slap' from Macron

Xi is due to make a state visit to France on Monday and Tuesday.

Dilnur Reyhan, the founder of the European Uyghur Institute and a French national, said she and others were “angry” the Chinese leader was visiting.

“For the Uyghur people — and in particular for French Uyghurs — it’s a slap from our president, Emmanuel Macron,” she said, describing the Chinese leader as “the executioner of the Uyghur people”.

Beijing stands accused of incarcerating more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across the Xinjiang region.

Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.

A UN report last year detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence — as well as forced labour — in the region.

But it stopped short of labelling Beijing’s actions a “genocide”, as the United States and some other Western lawmakers have done.

Beijing consistently denies abuses and claims the allegations are part of a deliberate smear campaign to contain its development.

It says it is running vocational training centres in Xinjiang which have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.

Standing beside Reyhan at a press conference in Paris, Gulbahar Haitiwaji, who presented herself as having spent three years in a detention camp, said she was “disappointed”.

“I am asking the president to bring up the issue of the camps with China and to firmly demand they be shut down,” she said.

Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Macron during the visit to “lay out consequences for the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity and deepening repression”.

“Respect for human rights has severely deteriorated under Xi Jinping’s rule,” it said.

“His government has committed crimes against humanity… against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang, adopted draconian legislation that has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms, and intensified repression of government critics across the country.”

“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch

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