JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI, CEO `LE MONDE`: Yes, it`s an accurate description, except that I wouldn`t speak of Jacques Chirac as a Gaullist, because Gaullism is so ancient.

JANA WENDT: Ah-ha, so what is the new wave, then?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: Oh, it`s a conservative way, simple and French conservative way from the part of Jacques Chirac and a Social Democrat classic way for Jospin. Not as close as Tony Blair, probably, because Tony Blair is seen by the French socialists as a rightist, even if he is in the centre left but Jospin will have a campaign on the centre left and Chirac will have a campaign on the centre right, which has nothing to do with Gaullism and, for Jospin, nothing to do with ancient socialist ideology, such as Mitterrand had, in 1981 for instance.

JANA WENDT: Well, I was going to mention that both the candidates seem to have skeletons in their closet. In the case of Mr Jospin there`s his Trotskyite past, isn`t there?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: Yes. Mm-hmm, if one considers Trotskyism as a crime. It`s a part of the history of - part of the left, of the French left. The thing is, for Jospin, that this was hidden such a long time. Trotskyism is even a la mode in France.

JANA WENDT: In fashion again?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: Yes, in fashion again, when you are from the left. But you have several families in Trotskyism and Jospin was in the wrong family, the one which is not in the fashionable way, so, and it was hidden. Chirac is a more complicated problem, because it regards what he was doing when he was mayor of Paris within 18 years and with public - companies, of making buildings and so on. So, it`s a matter of money. It`s a matter of a hint of corruption and this is, of course not a good image for him.

JANA WENDT: OK. It`s a little bit more than a hint though, isn`t it? I mean, there are strong suggestions that the President took bribes.

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: Yes, yes, it`s our point of view but it`s not the point of view of justice for, for, the present, because the presidency in France is very well protected. As long as Chirac is president, he will have no trouble from justice. When he leaves the presidency, he will have probably troubles.

JANA WENDT: So he has effective immunity from prosecution while he is president? Yes, yes. Does that strike you as odd?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: We are not, we do not agree with this but you see, as - I saw that Australia didn`t want to become a republic and wanted to stay a sort of a monarchy. The real monarchy is the French, in France. Maybe you are more republicans than we are. France is, as you know, a very old state, very old country and monarchy has led attitudes that one can see at the head of the state.

JANA WENDT: How does this - what sounds quite bizarre - this system of cohabitation work, where you have a conservative president and a socialist prime minister? How does it work when the two men then are fighting one another in an election campaign?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: It makes life difficult during the cohabitation itself because the government is under the control of the president and the president - well, the president has nothing to do but criticise the government, so it`s uncomfortable for the government. But it seems that the French like this system, because they, it seems, I don`t know, you have a conservative government at the federal level in Australia and Labor Governments in the States. It`s a matter of, sort of, cohabitation. But one has to be careful now because, being a French president today is not like being the French president during the period of de Gaulle, even during Mitterrand`s period, because we are in, in Europe, in a growing Europe, in a growing integrated European Union and the role of the French president is to be - being elected French president is to be elected as a leader of Europe.

JANA WENDT: We have seen in recent times expressions of disquiet on the part of France and Germany about the way that the United States is conducting its so-called "war against terrorism". What is France`s fundamental concern, do you believe?

JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI: France`s concern is no different from German concern or from English concern, British concern, I think. There is, there is no - everything was - I think, in fact, and if we are not hypocrites, thankful to the United States f acting so fast and so well in Afghanistan. But, now, it`s sort for back to usual disputes and usual problems and one of the main things that shocked the opinion in Europe was Guantanamo. Guantanamo Bay is a nonsense for us, because one cannot fight for freedom, for human rights, for constitutional rights, and act like this in Guantanamo. Even if, in Guanatanamo you locked the worst of the criminals, but we are fighting for constitutional rights and we are different from Talibans, so we cannot act like Talibans would act with foreign prisoners and Guantanamo, for European opinion, is a nonsense. One has to be in a complete solidarity during the fighting, of course, but you have also to, put your point of view, your own point of view. We are partners, we are not satellites, and being partners, we have things to say.

JANA WENDT: Mr Colombani, we have to leave it there. Thank you very much.