Amid the political comings and goings in France over the weekend and the reactions there have been to Sunday's decision by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to reshuffle his government, came a moment of light relief.
It was, in itself, telling of the still-confused state of the opposition Socialist party and came in the form of a slip of the tongue - for which the media is notoriously unforgiving - from its leader Martine Aubry.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the events that were to unfold later in the day - the resignation of France's "beleaguered" foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie and the announcement by the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, of a government reshuffle.
Martine Aubry's "vague-vast" moment (screenshot France 2)But to those watching Aubry as a guest at the end of the lunchtime news on France 2 television, it can only have brought a smile to the face - and a knowing nod that her "lapsus linguae" probably wasn't too far off the mark.
Aubry was talking about some of the propositions being put forward to form the party's official programme during campaigning for the 2012 presidential elections.
She animatedly outlined the broad thrust of what that programme would be, but in her apparent enthusiasm, somehow only managed to confirm what many of the French must surely fear will be the case.
"We want to give all the French the chance to have a say what they think," she said.
"And at the same time they should respect the rules and respect each other," she continued.
'It's an extremely vague...vast...programme and that's the essential thing."
Yes Aubry managed to correct herself in full flow, but the "vague-vast" blooper had left its mark, with one wise wag commenting on the clip which quickly found its way onto the Net that, "The one time she (Aubry) actually tells the truth, she is criticised for doing so."
We wait with bated breath for more details on the Socialist party's vague and vast programme.
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4 comments:
I bet that in the future, there will come a politician who will say "vote for me, I haven't got a clue what I'm going to do if I'm elected". And people will find it so refreshing after hearing for decades the same politicians talking about the "vast programme" they want to put in place, the sweeping reforms, etc... that they will vote for this candid politican. I surely will,
Jacques-Jérome, Clermont Ferrand
Oh Lordy, she really is hopeless isn't she! On a serious note it does show the need for the centre-left across Europe to develop a more cohesive set of policies to cope with the 21st Century, The Labour Party in the UK, the SPD in Germany, Socialists in Belgium, The Labour Party in the Netherlands are all struggling, even the Social Democrats in Sweden are having atough time.
Dontcha just love a malapropism. Relieves the boredom of politics while revealing many a truth at the same time. Good one Martine, but not as funny as Rachida Dati's fellatio-inflation blunder last year.
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