Dominique de Villepin promises "total transparency" on his consulting activities if he becomes President of the Republic

"I will have no problem being completely transparent about all my activities if I were to become President of the Republic," Mr. Villepin assured on BFMTV, confirming that he was seriously considering a candidacy in 2027.

He claimed that his activities do not include lobbying and that there is "no conflict of interest."

"I don't work with the Gulf countries"

"My clients are companies, especially French companies working internationally," he explained, refusing to give the names of his consulting firm's clients, as he is "bound by the confidentiality of contracts."

"If I give the name of a French client with whom I have a contract, even though there are confidentiality clauses, I am breaking that clause. I am not in a position to do so today," explained Dominique de Villepin, who insisted that he "does not work with Gulf countries."

Although the former Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac refused to confirm that he was a candidate for the Elysée, he admitted that he wondered whether he would be capable of being head of state.

"I've been asking myself this question for years. It's very difficult and I approach it with great humility, and that's probably why it's not easy to take the plunge," he stressed, regretting that there has been "no President of the Republic" since 2007, the year Jacques Chirac left office, considering his successors as "Prime Ministers."

"It is not just about being capable, but also about keeping a commitment to the French people in the capacity to provide answers to their expectations, to their difficulties," he affirmed, deploring that the French have been "deceived for too many decades."

"You don't run for president out of personal ambition. You do so when you know you have the means, the ability, and the determination to change things," he stressed, acknowledging that "it's not something you do lightly."

Asked about his political line, which even appeals to the LFI electorate, he presented himself as a "Gaullist." "I didn't wait until I was 71 to begin a career as a leftist," he declared, paraphrasing General de Gaulle, who said in 1958 that he did not want to begin "a career as a dictator" at 67.