MAN OF WORDS:
Villepin accused Hollande of cowardice; he later retracted it
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has always espoused a "great man" approach to history and his job: his hero is Napoleon, and his watchword during a
turbulent
year in office has been
voluntarisme
, or willpower. "Villepin always wants to go it alone, with great enthusiasm and resolve," says Axel Poniatowski, a deputy of Villepin's own ruling conservative Union for a Popular Movement (
ump
), "but he runs right into walls."
Poniatowski was among the majority of ump deputies who refused to back Villepin's plan last week to facilitate the merger of Franco-Belgian utility Suez with Gaz de...
