Juppé steps down as fight over French presidential succession begins to hot up

Former Prime Minister Alain Juppé resigned from the presidency of France's ruling party yesterday, paving the way for a succession battle at the head of President Jacques Chirac's powerful political organisation.

Former Prime Minister Alain Juppé resigned from the presidency of France's ruling party yesterday, paving the way for a succession battle at the head of President Jacques Chirac's powerful political organisation.

Juppé, one of Chirac's closest allies, was convicted earlier this year in a corruption case and had been expected to step down from the leadership of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

"Today I move away from political life in order to make peace with myself after the torment I have just been through," Juppe said in a statement.

"My time in politics gave me, throughout these 30 years, great joys and, more recently, great pain," said Juppé, who had agreed to step down after his conviction in January for diverting public funds to the party's forerunner, the Rally for the Republic. He is appealing against his conviction.

M. Chirac's popular and powerful finance minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been vying for the party leadership, which will be voted on in November. His main opponent is Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

In an eagerly awaited address, M. Sarkozy sought to strike a conciliatory tone two days after Chirac publicly scolded him, exposing tension between the two men: "I will not be the man who will divide the right. One cannot build the future by scoring an own-goal."

M. Sarkozy considers the post of party leader as crucial for winning the presidency in 2007.

In his Bastille Day interview, M. Chirac said M. Sarkozy would have to quit as finance minister if he becomes the UMP leader. M. Chirac also sought to show that he is in charge. "For a simple reason," M. Chirac said. "I make the decisions, and he carries them out."

Referring to that comment, M. Sarkozy said: "The president said what he thought. There will not be any war because I won't lead it,. We have better things to do than settling scores."