Villepin vulnerable despite surviving censure motion
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The embattled French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, comfortably survived a "no confidence" motion in the National Assembly last night, but the blank spaces on the government benches suggested that his position remained vulnerable.
M. Villepin has been linked by a series of leaks from a criminal investigation to an attempt to smear his colleague and rival Nicolas Sarkozy. A censure motion tabled by the main opposition, the Socialist Party, failed to disturb the large centre-right majority in the lower house of parliament but attracted some support from a centrist party, the UDF, which usually votes with the government.
The Socialist Party's first secretary, François Hollande, accused M. Villepin of misusing the intelligence services when he was Foreign Minister in 2004 to conduct an unorthodox, secret investigation into allegations of corruption against M. Sarkozy.
The allegations proved to be bogus but, later the same year, M. Villepin, as Interior Minister, demanded a second investigation by another intelligence agency, M. Hollande said. The Socialist leader said it was clear that the motive for these investigations was the "poisonous hatreds" between leading figures in the administration. He called for the Prime Minister to stand down.
M. Villepin accused M. Hollande of dragging "calumny, lies and rumour" into the National Assembly. But the blank spaces on the right hand side of the parliament suggested that many deputies for the ruling UMP party had decided not to support M. Villepin in person. Nevertheless, the censure motion attracted only 190 votes - far short of the majority needed to overturn the government.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments