Jacques Chirac Quotes

Jacques René Chirac was a French politician who served as President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously the Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as the Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

After completing his degree at Sciences Po, a term at Harvard University, and the École nationale d'administration, Chirac began his career as a high-level civil servant, entering politics shortly thereafter. Chirac occupied various senior positions, including Minister of Agriculture and Minister of the Interior. Chirac's internal policies initially included lower tax rates, the removal of price controls, strong punishment for crime and terrorism, and business privatisation. After pursuing these policies in his second term as Prime Minister, he changed his views. He argued for more socially responsible economic policies and was elected President in the 1995 presidential election with 52.6% of the vote in the second round, beating Socialist Lionel Jospin, after campaigning on a platform of healing the "social rift" . Then, Chirac's economic policies, based on dirigisme, allowing for state-directed investment, stood in opposition to the laissez-faire policies of the United Kingdom under the ministries of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, which Chirac described as "Anglo-Saxon ultraliberalism".He was also known for his stand against the American-led assault on Iraq, his recognition of the collaborationist French Government's role in deporting Jews, and his reduction of the presidential term from 7 years to 5 through a referendum in 2000. At the 2002 French presidential election, he won 82.2% of the vote in the second round against the far-right candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen. During his second term, however, he had a very low approval rating and was considered one of the least popular presidents in modern French political history.

In 2011, the Paris court declared Chirac guilty of diverting public funds and abusing public confidence, giving him a two-year suspended prison sentence. Wikipedia  

✵ 29. November 1932 – 26. September 2019
Jacques Chirac photo

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Jacques Chirac: 10   quotes 1   like

Famous Jacques Chirac Quotes

“Anything that can hurt the convictions of another, particularly religious convictions, must be avoided. Freedom of expression must be exercised in a spirit of responsibility. I condemn all manifest provocation that might dangerously fan passions.”

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4693628.stm Statement made about free speech following the publication of Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed

“Translation:Our house is burning and we look elsewhere. Nature mutilated, overexploited is not able to recover and we refuse to admit it. From North to South, it suffers from ill-development, and we are indifferent. Earth and humanity are in great peril and we are accountable.”

Notre maison brûle et nous regardons ailleurs. La nature, mutilée, surexploitée, ne parvient plus à se reconstituer et nous refusons de l'admettre. L'humanité souffre. Elle souffre de mal-développement, au nord comme au sud, et nous sommes indifférents. La terre et l'humanité sont en péril et nous en sommes tous responsables.
Statement at the earth summit in Johannesburg Elysee.fr http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/francais/interventions/discours_et_declarations/2002/septembre/discours_de_m_jacques_chirac_president_de_la_republique_devant_l_assemblee_pleniere_du_sommet_mondial_du_developpement_durable.1217.html dated sept 2nd 2002

“I have been an active member of Mandela's ANC since the end of the 60's or the beginning of the 70's. Hassan II, the King of Morocco, talked me into helping fund the ANC. […] I remember that at the time, the South African President, who must have been Vorster, was putting a lot of pressure on our ministers, so that they come to South Africa. A number of French ministers accepted these invites. I too was frequently asked to go… The leaders of South Africa wanted to make us believe that the apartheid was normal, or did not exist. I declared officially and most clearly, urbi et orbi, that I wouldn't set a foot there as long as the apartheid would exist.”

J'ai été militant de l'ANC de Mandela depuis la fin des années soixante, le début des années soixante-dix. J'ai été approché par Hassan II, le roi du Maroc, pour aider au financement de l'ANC. [...] Je me souviens qu'à l'époque, le président sud-africain, que devait être Vorster, exerçait d'énormes pressions auprès de nos ministres pour qu'ils viennent en Afrique du sud. Un certain nombre de ministres français ont accepté ces invitations. Moi aussi, j'ai été très sollicité... Les dirigeants de l'Afrique du Sud voulaient nous faire croire que l'apartheid était normal, ou n'existait pas. J'ai déclaré officiellement, et de la manière la plus claire, urbi et orbi que je n'y mettrais pas les pieds tant que l'apartheid existerait.
L'Inconnu de l'Élysée, Pierre Péan, Fayard, 2007, p. 8 et 9

“Never make up with extremism, racism, antisemitism or rejecting whoever is different”

Ne composez jamais avec l'extrémisme, le racisme, l'antisémitisme ou le rejet de l'autre.
Statement in Le Monde http://www;lemonde.fr, dated mars 13th 2007, p. 10

“There have been women I have loved … A lot, as discreetly as possible.”

"'Affair' story will continue to rumble" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25738177 Christian Fraser, BBC News, 14 January 2014

“One does not export democracy in an armored vehicle.”

On n'exporte pas la démocratie dans un fourgon blindé.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, attributed to Jacques Chirac speaking to Silvio Berlusconi over the invasion of Iraq in 2003, 20 o'clock news, TF1, mars 11th 2007

Jacques Chirac Quotes

“France is the friend and ally of Iraq.”

Declaration in April 1986. http://web.archive.org/20031023104943/www.geocities.com/tom_slouck/iraq/france_iraq_rel_monde.html http://www.eurotrib.com/user/Jerome%20a%20Paris/diary/2 http://194.117.210.39/actufr/articles/038/article_19749.asp http://www.les4verites.com/libreinformation/click.php?url=articles.php?article_libre=15
Diplomacy with Iraq 70s-80s

“You are my personal friend. Let me assure you of my esteem, consideration and bond.”

Vous êtes mon ami personnel. Vous êtes assuré de mon estime, de ma considération et de mon affection.
Declaration on September 5, 1974, about the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Aeschimann, Éric & Boltanski, Christophe (2006). Chirac d'Arabie : Les mirages d'une politique française (in French), Grasset & Fasquelle, pp. 64, ISBN 2246691214

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