Political Scandals in France - Under The Fifth Republic

Under The Fifth Republic

• 1965 - the Ben Barka affair, disappearance of the Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka.
• 1968 - The Markovic affair
• 1974
  • Eurodif Affair.
  • Cardinal Jean Daniélou's death in the house of a prostitute (1974)
  • Le Monde reveals the existence of the SAFARI government database, prompting the creation of the CNIL agency in charge of respect of civil rights and data privacy.
• 1979

• • Robert Boulin Affair (Boulin was a minister of the third Raymond Barre government, found dead in mysterious circumstances on October 30, 1979)
  • Diamonds Affair involving Bokassa.
• 1981 - The Canard enchaîné uncovered the Collaborationist role of former Minister Maurice Papon under Vichy France. The latter will be eventually convicted of crimes against humanity.
• 1985 - Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior by the French DGSE intelligence agency
• 1986 - Chernobyl disaster: Jacques Chirac's government wrongly alleged that the "radioactive cloud" had stopped at the French borders.
• 1987-1988 - Iskandar Safa and the Hostage Scandal involving Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Interior Minister Charles Pasqua.
• 1980s - Contaminated blood scandal
• The Canard enchaîné satirical newspaper fought to bring to light evidence of alleged corruption during President Jacques Chirac's tenure as mayor of Paris. (see: Chirac's role in Parisian corruption scandals)
• 1990s - Angolagate (arms-for-oil scandal)
  • Taiwan frigates scandal (fr) (aka La Fayette scandal)
• 1994 - Yann Piat Affair (a former Front National far-right MP, assassinated on February 25, 1994)
• 1998 - Affair Elf-Dumas
• 1999 - "Affair of the beach huts", leading to the arrest of prefect Bernard Bonnet
• 2005
  • The revelations of the Canard enchaîné on Finance Minister Hervé Gaymard's (UMP) lavish state-funded apartment led to his resignation in 2005.

• 2006
  • Clearstream affair allegedly involving French prime minister Dominique de Villepin (UMP) accused of attempting to discredit his political rivals, including UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy, by spreading false allegations concerning the Taiwan frigates scandal.

• 2010
  • Bettencourt affair