An astrologer claims that former President Mitterrand consulted her
Dov Alfon
The French have already gotten used to the idea that François Mitterrand did not conduct himself during his second term at the Elysee Palace (88-95) according to the accepted standards. However, the new revelations published yesterday in Paris surprised even the fiercest opponents of the late president. In the tape recordings that were broadcast every day yesterday on radio and television stations, it appears that Mitterrand used to consult regularly with a well-known astrologer, and this on the most important and sensitive issues.
This is Elizabeth Tassier, an astrology columnist in the popular television weekly "Tala 7 Jour", who provided consulting services to Mitterrand from 90 to the end of 95 - about a year before his death. According to Tsia, she met with Mitterrand in his office in the palace twice a week late at night, and sometimes the president called her for advice on burning matters that could not wait for the next meeting.
Rumors about a connection between Tassia and Mitterrand have already been published in the past, but the assumption was that Mitterrand had an affair with her, and therefore - at least according to French standards - their relationship was completely kosher. Tsia has always claimed that her relationship with Mitterrand was "completely professional". Yesterday, she handed over to journalist Carl Zero, editor of a new magazine called "La Vera Papier Journal" and a senior reporter at the "Canal Plus" television network, the recordings that prove her words.
In the recordings Mitterrand is heard consulting with Tsiya on various issues, such as, for example, the dismissal of Prime Minister Edith Carson; the desired French response to the putsch against Yeltsin in Moscow; And the ideal date for holding the referendum on the Maastricht Treaty. But the most amazing recording is from January 1991: Mitterrand is heard explaining to Tassiah that the pressures on him to take part in the Gulf War are increasing, and apparently consulting her on the feasibility of military action and the desired date to launch an attack against Saddam Hussein.
Mitterrand was a complex man, and it is possible that he did not take his conversations with Tessia completely seriously. However, the French pride themselves on being a rational nation, the birthplace of René Descartes, a country where more study hours are devoted to logic and philosophy than to mathematics. Therefore, it is doubtful whether they will be satisfied with the stammering denials of the president's associates. Yesterday Mazrin Mitran, his daughter out of wedlock, said that her father "did not really consult with Tasya, certainly not on important issues."
It is difficult to accept this position after hearing the recordings. Tsia claims that Mitran knew she was recording their conversations. "One evening I came, took the tape recorder out of my purse and put it on the table. He was a little surprised and asked me what I should record for. I told him, 'For the sake of history, Mr. President,' and he laughed and gave his consent."
Despite this claim, commentators believe Mitterrand did not know he was being recorded. Tsia, by the way, did not really address him with the obligatory title "Mr. President": throughout the recordings she is heard calling Mitterrand "my dear scorpion".
The summary of Mitterrand's second term includes so far personal corruption, managing countless love affairs, hiding a malignant disease, wasting public money on an unfathomable scale, wiretapping movie stars and now also regular consultations with an astrologer.
What else is in store for us? The French ask themselves, and the answer was not long in coming: according to the newspaper "Le Journal de Dimanche", Mitterrand often traveled to Senegal to consult a well-known sorcerer, Sidi Mansour. Even if there are no recordings, the French are ready to believe anything.
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 26/6/2000}
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