Comment 12 for bug 980320

Taken from the skype thread
"Hi,
combining this
http://www.ubuntubuzz.com/2011/10/fixing-skype-error-in-ubuntu-1110.html
and this
http://smashingweb.ge6.org/install-skype-to-ubuntu-12-04-aka-precise-pangolin/
to:
sudo apt-get remove --purge skype
sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ $(lsb_release -sc) partner"
sudo apt-get install skype:i386
seem to fix the silent crash. It works for me on 32-bit Ubuntu 11.10 and 12.04."

could you give it a try?