UDI leader Jean-Christophe Lagarde proves French politics is still a family affair

Some establishment French politicians just don’t get it do they?

With the new president, Emmanuel Macron freshly installed in the Elysée palace and his party,  La republique en marche promising a new kind of politics as it aims for a presidential majority in the upcoming French legislative elections, “morality” is pretty much top of the agenda.

So with that in mind, what does a leading figure from one of the country’s other parties do?

Here’s a clue. He (the name will be provided in a moment proves that the time-honoured tradition of political nepotism is alive and kicking and will undoubtedly  be a hard nut to crack (heavy on the clichés here) as it’s so ingrained with the political establishment.

No the talk isn’t of the Le Pen dynasty from the far right Front National - they’re well beyond redemption.

Nor is it of the Fillons, François and Penelope (and children), who successfully contrived to lose the rightwing Les Républicains a spot in the second round of the presidential elections with their seemingly never-ending stories of overpaid and underworked “family employment” (inverted commas because the case is now before the courts).

This time around it involves the leader of the centre-right Union des démocrates et indépendants (UDI) Jean-Christophe Lagarde.

Jean-Christophe Lagarde (screenshot BFM TV)

The 49-year-old is running again in June’s parliamentary elections and, as new rules kick in preventing politicians from simultaneously holding office at different levels (one of those other more-than-warped traditions of French political life), Lagarde has quite “magnanimously” offered to step down as mayor of Drancy (a town in the northeastern suburbs of Paris) and hand over power to the sixth in line among his deputies.

Yes, you read correctly, the sixth in line.

An odd choice?

Apparently not, Lagarde assured the popular daily, “Le Parisien”. The recommendation came collectively from his deputies as the “first in line didn’t want to succeed him” and numbers two to five “didn’t have the time”.

So “number six” it is then, Lagarde’s former parliamentary assistant (until 2014) and current regional councillor, Aude…Lagarde…wife of!

Bye bye Bruno - French interior minister quits amid “fake jobs” scandal

Well, well. Who would have believed it?

French politics delivers yet another dose of déjà-vu.

After little more than just over three months since taking office, France’s interior minister, Bruno Le Roux, has resigned.

Bruno Le Roux (screenshot)

And the reason? Employing family members as parliamentary assistants.

And not just any old family members - in fact far from being “old”. Rather his two daughters when they were still teenagers and at school, and later as university students.

“Of course, I employed my daughters during the summer or school holidays,” Le Roux admitted to Yann Barthès’ daily TV satirical programme on TMC “Quotidien” which broke the story on Monday.

“But never permanently.”

It was a defence he repeated when announcing his resignation on Tuesday.

Oh well, that’s all right then. Temporary contracts for a total of around €55,000. Not bad “pocket money”.

Does Le Roux’s story sound familiar?

French politicians taking advantage of a system which allows them to employ family members at the expense of the tax payer.

Um - think François Fillon and “Penelope gate”; the former prime minister and current presidential candidate for the rightwing Les Républicains, who apparently “employed” his wife, Penelope and children over a number of years for the modest sum of €800,000.

The inverted commas are required because Fillon is currently under investigation for “possible abuse of public funds” or in other words “employing his wife (and children) for potentially non-existent work”.

“Conspiracy”, “witch hunt” and “political assassination” are the terms that have been used by Fillon and his supporters over the timing of the revelations and the speed with which prosecutors have proceeded with their investigations.

But no such claims yet from Le Roux - who resigned within a day of the allegations being made public.

There again, he didn’t have much choice. As minister of the interior he would have been in the indefensible position of potentially having access to information relevant to the inquiry.

The problem in both cases is that neither man sees himself as having done anything illegal because employing family members as parliamentary assistants is…well, not illegal.

But what about the morality?

Oh yes...it's politics. How silly to think otherwise.

French presidential election - leading candidates take to stage for marathon TV debate

So the first live TV broadcast presidential debate is over.

Only the “Big Five” or leading candidates were invited by TF1/LCI to take part; those ranking at more than 10 per cent in the opinion polls.

The leading candidates
screenshot

It was  a move that prompted Nicolas Dupont-Aignan - one of the “little candidates” (there are six of them - yes a grand total of 11 aiming for the highest office in the Land) to stomp off in a huff during a television interview during a news broadcast over the weekend.

So how did the candidates perform?

Well, as the BBC’s Hugh Schofield rightly points out, trying to predict the winner of any presidential debate is pretty much “a mug’s game”.

And although Monday night’s three-hour plus marathon might have been a first in a presidential campaign here in France (normally the debating is left to the final two before the second round) it’s probably anyone’s guess as to who actually came across as the winner.

Over nine million viewers tuned in to watch and although the “conventional wisdom” of political commentators (those who “know” best) and the independent polls taken immediately afterwards judged centrist Emmanuel Macron as the “most convincing”, it would be unwise to read too much into that.

Ultimately each candidate’s camp was putting its own political spin on the evening with each claiming to have been “satisfied”, “happy” and “confident”. Nothing new there then.

For the record though, here’s a personal view as to how they came across.

Macron probably had the most to lose and was on the receiving end of several attacks. After a ponderous start, though he held his own and refrained from falling into the traps laid down for him.

Still, he needs to find a “defining” policy which sticks in the electorate’s mind.

At the moment he appears to be caught in the Centre’s dilemma of wanting to appeal to all sides.

The far-right Front National’s Marine Le Pen was as bellicose as ever - only to be expected - and that won’t have done her any harm…among her own supporters.

But the shrugged dismissal of any criticism and an inability to come up with a response as to why she deems herself above the judiciary (only fleetingly addressed) and fa ailure to appeal outside of her own electorate will not have made her chances of widening her appeal.

Les Républicain’s François Fillon - was statesmanlike and serious (almost to the point of boring) but astonishingly reserved and restrained - almost as though he were, at times, absent. He too suffers from a difficulty of reaching out beyond his own “fans” - and oh yes, the foreign media should stop defining his candidacy as centre-right. It’s rightwing.

Benoît Hamon - the Socialist party’s candidate - was widely seen as having failed to shine. Sure, he was articulate and coherent but sometimes (too often in fact) saw his thoughts and ideas overshadowed by those of the man whose views most closely match his own - the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Make no mistake, Mélenchon (what was it with those very pink lips?)  was and remains an orator head and shoulders above the rest, able to inject more than a modicum of cutting wit at just the right moment.

But he’s also more of a troublemaker (especially for the Socialist party) than a serious candidate to be president.

The second debate in a fortnight’s (April 4) on BFM TV will feature all 11 candidate when the likes of Dupont-Aignan, Jacques Cheminade and François Asselineau will get their chance to ensure that the electorate is even more confused afterwards than it was before with polls still showing that around 40 per cent don’t know how they’ll vote.

French presidential election 2017 - The "Big Five" and a perplexed electorate

The French presidential election is turning out to be one of the most confusing and unpredictable of recent times.

And it’s really not surprising that,  according to many of the (innumerable) polls, there are a sizeable number of French who are still unsure as to how they will vote - at least in the first round April 23.

Of course, many of the leading candidates have their hard core supporters - but none of them is guaranteed a place in the second-round head-to-head.

What follows is not a (huge sigh of relief) poll and, admittedly, far from being scientific. It’s a recap of the five main contenders (in reality there are only three) to be this country’s next president. The comments are based on observations - something more than just a chat to the taxi driver on the way from the airport after being parachuted in to a country - from someone who lives among the French and hears their fears, confusion as to what might or might not happen in this year’s presidential elections.

The "Big Five" French presidential hopefuls: Marine Le Pen, François Fillon, Emmanuel Macron, Benoît Hamon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (collage of YouTube screenshots)

Perhaps the best-placed (again according to those omnipresent polls) to make it through the May 7 run-off is the far-right Front National’s (FN) Marine Le Pen.

Along with her faithful lieutenants (such as Florian Philippot), Le Pen has made a pretty good job of what the media calls “dédiabolisation” or “de-demonising” the party in terms of its image: giving it a veneer  of respectability, positioning itself as an anti-system alternative to “politics as usual” and broadening its electoral appeal.

In essence though, for all its nationalist and populist bluster about how it would do things differently if in power, the party would still be at the mercy of a political and institutional system (and all its inherent flaws and self—serving perks).  The FN also remains fiercely anti-immigration (a sugar-coated way of saying xenophobic and anti-Islam) implausible on economic policy and typically protectionist - although given recent global events such as Brexit and The Donald’s election in the United States, that might well be seen as an attribute.

The party is also a peculiarly “family business”.  Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie, was its founder, her partner, Louis Aliot, is one of its vice presidents and her niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, one of its two members in the National Assembly.

The right wing (although the party still insists on portraying itself as representing the Right/Centre-right) Les Républicains’ François Fillon was for many months the political pundits favourite to face Le Pen in the second round.

His overwhelming victory in the party’s November 2016’s primary provided him with a virtual “boulevard” to the Elysée: well that was the proverbial common wisdom. He would make it through to the second round and, even though he might have a hard time convincing those who had voted for leftwing parties in the first round, there was no way they would allow a Le Pen victory. In much the same way as Jacques Chirac had sealed success against Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002, so Fillon would be assured of doing (but less emphatically) in 2017.

But then it all well pear-shaped. The man who had always taken the moral high ground and presented himself as almost “whiter than white” found himself embroiled in “the Penelope gate” fiasco, suspicions that his Welsh-born wife and two of his children had earned hundreds of thousands of euros for “fake jobs” as his parliamentary assistants.

“If a presidential candidate is indicted - no matter for what reason - he (or she) cannot possibly maintain the trust of the electorate and must withdraw from the race” of his earlier campaigning became “I have become the victim of a media witch hunt and “I’m going to see this out to the very end”. A neat reversal of what he had said just months earlier. So much for consistency and integrity in French politics.

And then there’s Emmanuel Macron. His very strengths could also prove to be his weakness. He’s young (38) - perhaps too young for many to have that much needed gravitas of a Statesman. He not politically bound, even though he served as advisor and economics minister under the current president François Hollande, a man he is accused as having “stabbed in the back”. He has never stood for elected office before and his programme - yes he has one at last - for the longest time seemed vague: exciting but confusing - that mix of Centrist ideas that lack ideology (and dogma) and try to appeal to everyone and anyone (apart from the extremes).

Criticised by the Right as representing “Hollande redux” - and few French want a repeat performance of the last five years - and by the Left as not being Socialist enough, Macron has nevertheless managed to garner support from across the political spectrum with his movement “En marche” (On the move) - yes only the most confident (or arrogant) of people could give his political movement his own initials.

The media darling and golden boy of French politics has surprised many. His movement has gathered momentum but he lacks the structure of a political machine behind him. Sure, he could beat Le Pen if he makes it through the second round, but the transitory nature of his support - that so-called Centre - could also be his undoing.

So, what is the Socialist party up to? Well, it’s not so much fighting a presidential race as defining its own future as a party. In its primary it chose Benoît Hamon as the candidate. For many he’s “too Socialist”, too Utopian, offering the French what they want (to hear): no belt-tightening economic reforms (but no real guaranteed progress either). In fact more of the same as the country entrenches itself deeper in the beliefs of the past.

And Hamon is not drawing in the big crowds as he had hoped. The former rebel of yesteryear who resigned as Hollande’s education minister after just a few months in the job (what staying power) now finds himself confronted with his own rebels - hard-hitting party bigwigs who feel he is leading the lot of them into political oblivion and are (more than) tempted to throw their weight behind Macron. Result? Hamon has had to blow hot and cold on some of his core ideas such as universal suffrage.

Finally among those that really matter (and apologies for any other candidates who might obtain the necessary signatures to enable them to stand) there’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

If only this former Socialist party member could pull his act together and get over himself to join forces with Hamon, the Left might actually have some say in determining the outcome of the 2017 presidential elections.

But no, the angry old bloke of French politics (who has admittedly calmed down a fair deal since his campaign managers discovered social media) has an ideological path that doesn’t sit well with many inside the Socialist party. Oh yes - and an ego.

You see, and this is actually unusual in French politics - or any politics come to that, Mélanchon actually has (don’t say this too loud) principles. Employment rights, welfare programmes and a real redistribution of wealth to tackle existing socioeconomic inequalities actually mean something to him. And oh yes, he’s very anti-EU.

No wonder the French are perplexed. There’s no clear “leader” to guide the country over the next five years. Le Pen might well score highly in the first round but there’s still (hopefully) - at least on the Left - enough French who would do the “right thing” and vote tactically to keep her from winning the run-off.

Should she face Macron, it would be easier for those - Left and Right of the political spectrum - to swallow their pride and help the young pretender into office…no matter what their qualms might be about his leadership qualities.

But Fillon versus Le Pen casts quite a different picture. Distasteful Right against even more distasteful Far Right…and some might just be tempted to let the latter win simply by abstaining.

And that most unlikely combination of Macron against Fillon…heck, that’s just introducing another unfathomable element into the equation.

French journalist Vanessa Burggraf gives Philippe Poutou a lesson on how to humiliate a presidential candidate…without trying too hard

Media bashing has, in the wake of The Donald’s tediously repetitive “fake news” and “alternative facts” diatribe, become something of a recurring theme in the French presidential election.

Some supporters of the centre-right (although there’s not too much “centre” about him) candidate François Fillon, have been only too keen to lay the blame for the so-called Penelopegate affair (charges that Fillon had employed his wife, Penelope,  as a parliamentary assistant for the modest sum of €900,000 for work that was perhaps never done) at the proverbial door of journalists. The controversy has highlighted the shameful (but, it has to be said, not illegal in France) practice of disabusing tax-payers’ money and prompted the judiciary to get involved.

And the far-right’s Marine Le Pen…well, she’s more in the mould of The Donald in launching regular barbs concerning biased reporting or insufficient media coverage for the Front National while at the same time popping up whenever invited on prime time news to polish and preen her electoral image.

Journalists in cahoots with the political classes? Well, it makes for good fodder and it doesn’t matter whether it’s true (or fake or even an alternative fact). Most pundits would agree that the French are generally pretty cheesed off with their elected (national) representatives as a whole (and who can blame them?)

Vanessa Burggraf (screenshot "On n'es pas couché")

And an event on Saturday evening, will surely for many, only “add grist to the mill” (love a good cliché) that journalists and politicians are in their own little Parisian bubble - far away from the concerns of the general electorate.

It happened during a segment of Laurent Ruquier’s weekly talk show on France 2, “On n'est pas couché”.

The invited political guest was one of the so-called “minor candidates” in a field that currently boasts a total of 49  (although not all of them are expected to be able to gather the required signatures to be able to stand) Philippe Poutou from the far-left Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste.

Philippe Poutou (screenshot "On n'est pas couché")

One of Rouquier’s regular interviewers, Vanessa Burggraf, proved her full journalistic credentials in posing a question about the role of company bosses in preventing redundancies but somehow never managed to wrap her lips around what she really wanted to ask, especially after she was interrupted by the show’s host.

There then followed over two minutes of buffoonery from Burggraff, Ruquier and others as Poutou looked on, bemused and evidently uncomfortable. After all, his party - and it doesn’t matter what you think about its policies - is one the declares itself to “look after the little guy”.

Complete humiliation for Poutou, totally shameful on the part of Burgraff and Ruquier and simply unnecessary.

After all, the recorded segment could simply have been edited. But it wasn’t.

Nicolas Sarkozy quits politics…again

So the former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has promised to leave politics.

His announcement came on the eve of his defeat in the first round of the primary to choose the candidate from the centre-right in next year’s presidential elections.

Nicolas Sarkozy (screenshot BBC News)

Sarkozy finished a distant third to his former prime minister during his five-year spell in office from 2002-2007, François Fillon, and blast-from-the-past hopeful (and another former prime minister) Alain Juppé.

Yes, how ironic that Fillon,  the man Sarkozy had described (apparently off-the-record) as his “assistant while the boss, that’s me” back in August 2007 “romped” to victory with just over 44 per cent of the four million who turned out to vote with Juppé (28.6) second and Sarkozy third (20.6).

The top two will now go head to head in a second round of voting on Sunday 27 November.

An unusually subdued and dignified Sarkozy thanked just about everyone possible during his speech in which he conceded defeat and gave his support in next Sunday’s round to his former “assistant” - moving many of his fans (because the cult of personality is and was at the core of Sarkozy’s approach to politics) to tears.

Sniff, sniff.

Just a shame the 62-year-old hadn’t been a little more noble and distinguished earlier in the day when he went to vote.

While Fillon, Juppé and the other four candidates had been happy to stand patiently in line while waiting to vote in their respective constituencies, Sarkozy, presumably not wanting to rub shoulders for too long with the (well-heeled) hoi polloi of the swanky XVI arrondissement in Paris, jumped the queue.

Jumped the queue.

Surely the way he will be lovingly remembered and treasured by his devotees.

And as for stepping out of the limelight to "have a life with more passion privately and less publicly”…cue that interview in March 2012 with Jean-Jacques Bourdin perhaps.

Nicolas Sarkozy’s non-shock presidential election candidacy announcement

Well that’s a turn up for the books.

Former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that he’s to run in the primary to choose the candidate who’ll represent the Right and Centre-Right at next year’s presidential elections in France.

Screenshot Nicolas Sarkozy Twitter

Yes, the same man who, back in 2012 assured viewers, during an interview with Jean-Jacques Bourdin on BFMTV, that he would “retire from politics” if he lost that year’s presidential elections, has joined 14 other hopefuls - a decision which surprises absolutely nobody.


Archive 2012 - Quand Sarkozy assurait qu'il... par BFMTV

The announcement was the kind of political non-event which pretty much sums up politics in general in this country, and the tradition whereby those defeated in earlier elections, along with disgraced politicians, attempt a comeback.

You know, “Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose”. Or in the case of French politics, the same old faces keep popping up all the time.

Take a look at just a few of those on the list for the primary.

Ex prime minister Alain Juppé who has made his way back from a criminal conviction for abuse of public funds to become the man most likely to be able to beat Sarkozy.

Jean-François Copé, the former president of the Centre Right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a popular movement, (which under Sarkozy’s second stint as chairman renamed itself Les Republicans) who was forced to resign from that post following the Bygmalion invoices scandal (about which he knew nothing of course).

François Fillon - another former prime minister (under Sarkozy). Squeaky clean (in French political terms although there was that “storm in a teacup” scandal in 2014 when he reportedly encouraged one of François Hollande’s closest advisers at the Elysée Palace, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, to “accelerate” judicial proceedings against Sarkozy) but rather…er…dull.

Nadine Morano - no criminal convictions - but plenty of - let’s be polite - “barmy” Tweets (she’s an adept at Social Media) and controversial statements (such as France being  “a Judeo-Christian country, of white race")

Then there’s…

No, to list all of them would increase the yawn factor inexorably. And besides, with Sarkozy’s entry into the race, some will more than likely drop out.

Ah yes - that entry. Long expected and accompanied by a book (of course) “Tout pour la France” in which he outlines his “ideas” for the future of this country, and a scheduled appearance on prime time TV news.

Sarkozy has his work cut out. He might well be popular among his supporters (pretty much a foregone conclusion as it would be disastrous if he weren’t) but, if those never-ending opinion polls are to be believed, among the general population he’s unpopular and a majority have said they would not like to see him stand.

Oh well, too late now.

Affaire à suivre

Nicolas Sarkozy scores poorly among French on perceived honesty ratings

Whoopee!

Yet another poll.

Yes, the country which seems to delight in publishing a legion of surveys on an almost frighteningly (well, it would be if you were really to take them seriously) basis has now explored how "honest" some of the leading lights in the centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a popular movement, UMP) are.

All right, to give the free daily Metronews and TF1's all-news channel LCI credit, it could well be argued that the poll, which they commissioned CLAI to carry out, has a deservedly newsworthy angle.

There's an UMP leadership contest scheduled for the end of November with former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, the favourite to beat Bruno Le Maire and Hervé Mariton, the other two declared candidates.

And of course Sarkozy, currently touring the country with his "one man show" (below is a BFM TV video report, if you're interested), is widely thought to be considering a run to be the party's candidate for the 2017 presidential election.

Should he, as many predict, eventually decide to enter the party's planned primary (some time in 2016) he'll find himself up against the likes of Alain Juppé and François Fillon.

Nicolas Sarkozy "One man show" (screenshot BFM TV)

So, a poll to measure how honest the French perceive UMP politicians (in this case) to be, would seem timely...if not exactly a good use of...time (and money that is).

Surely nobody - or at least, very few - would rate politicians high in the honesty stakes.

After all politicians, of whatever persuasion, are famous for saying one thing when running for office and then another when faced with the reality of having been elected.

Plus they seldom take responsibility for mistakes, errors of judgement, failure for policies to deliver et yadda, yadda, yadda. It's always someone else's fault (or that of the global economy, which might well be partially true) and besides it's far easier to pass the buck.

Anyway, all that set to one side, none of the UMP's leading lights does especially well - at a national level - in the honesty perception poll.

Among those surveyed, Juppé came out top with 46 per cent, followed by Le Maire at 45 per cent and Fillon with 44 per cent.

Mind you, they were all streets ahead of Sarkozy who scored...wait for it...just 20 per cent.

Oh well, maybe when it comes to politics, "honesty" really is as much of a "lonely word" as US singer Billy Joel suggested in his 1979 international hit of the same name.

And besides, if the French population at large doesn't expect its politicians to be particularly honest (ooh - now that sounds like good material for yet another survey, surely) maybe this poll is nothing for the former president to worry about.

Fancy a little Billy Joel to finish off?

Handbags at dawn - Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppé

Ah. Politics is such a fickle profession.

"Friends" come and "friends" go - as befits the occasion.

And the odd feud along the way, seemingly forgetten when the two (or more) protagonists are reconciled is...well, frankly, par for the course.

Right now though, there's trouble apparently brewing (yet again) for the opposition centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a popular movement, UMP) as certain figures jostle for position ahead of the party's planned primary (some time in 2016) to choose the candidate for the 2017 presidential election.

Yes, it might seem a fair distance away - and the battle for the leadership (quite a separate matter) hasn't yet taken place - but territory is already being marked in the very finest of...well, manners in which territory is traditionally marked in the animal kingdom.

Remember (yet again) that the former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, threw his proverbial hat into the ring for the lUMP eadership campaign last week - pitting him against two other declared contenders, Bruno Le Maire and Hervé Mariton.

And although he hasn't actually said he'll seek the party's nomination for 2017, all the talk is that is really his ultimate goal.

Should he decide to enter that particular fray, he'll find himself up against at least two other declared candidates - both of whom served under him during his time as president: François Fillon, his prime minister during five years, and Alain Juppé, who served as foreign minister for the final 15 months of Sarkozy's "reign".

While both represent a challenge to Sarkozy, it's Juppé, with his wealth of political experience (including as the former leader of the UMP 2002-2004, prime minister under Jacques Chirac 1995-1997 and twice foreign minister as well as spells at defence and environment) and popularity who probably presents the biggest danger.

Alain Juppé (screenshot from "Le Grand rendez-vous" Europe 1, September 21, 2014)

Seemingly eager to bury the hatchet (but where), or perhaps better said, dissuade him from standing...or both...during his 45-minute televised interview last weekend, Sarkozy said of Juppé, "I met him when I was 20 years old. He has become a partner, a friend and a companion. He's someone I admire greatly."

Ah. That's nice, isn't it. Quite the proverbial olive branch.

Except in private, Sarkozy has apparently been saying something quite different according to the weekly satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné.

It  reminds its readers that at the beginning of September (a couple of weeks after Juppé had said he would be standing in the 2016 primary - a selection process not at all to Sarkozy's liking), Sarkozy is rumoured to have said (in private of course) that he would "kill him" (politically speaking...Juppé's response on hearing the rumour was that Sarkozy "knew where to find him").

And according to the newspaper, Sarkozy has once again been firing salvoes in private, especially over Juppé's age and "moral" lecturing.

"Juppé will be 72 years old in 2017 and has an 18 month suspended prison sentence (for abuse of public funds), behind him," he's reported to have said.

"Do you think he scares me or that he's the right person to give me a lesson in morals?"

Juppé isn't exactly a political shrinking violet though. On the contrary, he's a seasoned scrapper, albeit it with rather more humour, perhaps more cutting and incisive and certainly more refined.

While Sarkozy was explaining his reasons on France 2 on Sunday evening for his political comeback, Juppé was unveiling on his blog the sort of programme he would be putting to party members during the primary.

And on Tuesday he told BFM TV that it was clear the battle had begun.

"I know that today the match has started," he said, poking fun at the idea that Sarkozy would try to change the name of the UMP to rid it of the less than positive image it has had over the past couple of years.

"You know, everything can be changed," he said.

"Rather than call it the UMP we can rename it PMU (also the name of the state-controlled betting system, Pari mutuel urbain). If that's the change, it won't exactly be fundamental."

The war of words has begun - and the campaign (should Sarkozy eventually declare) could well prove to be a rough one.

To be continued...


Juppé sort les armes contre Sarkozy by 20Minutes

A (Ségolène) Royal return to the French government?

Those in the "know" have been speculating about a government reshuffle in France for months and in particular the focus has been on whether the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, is for the chop.

It's a popular media pastime - just ask Ayrault's predecessor in the job, François Fillon, who was constantly the centre of media conjecture as to who would replace him and when.

Jean-Marc Ayrault putting on a brave face at the Salon de l'Agriculture 2014 (screenshot France 3 television)

In the end, Fillon survived the full five years as prime minister during the "reign" of Nicolas Sarkozy's as president.

So far, under François Hollande, not much has happened in the game of ministerial musical chairs.

There has been the minimal of tinkering with only two high profile cabinet members losing their jobs.

In March 2013, the former minister for the budget Jérôme Cahuzac stepped down for "financial improprieties" (aka tax fraud).

And four months later, the ecology and environment minister, Delphine Batho, was effectively fired for openly criticising the government and the budget restrictions being imposed on her department.

They were replaced by two less-than charismatic figures Go on, try to remember their names - the answers at the end of this piece. No cheating.

Apart from that though the 38-strong government has remained unchanged.

Sure there have been disagreements, public spats and "hiccoughs" along the way, most notable perhaps in the relationship between the justice minister, Christiane Taubira, and the interior minister Manuel Valls.

The two haven't always seen eye to eye (far from it) but have been at pains to show how united they are when it counts.

Housing minister (although, as a leading member of the Greens, she probably really, really wants the environment portfolio) Cécile Duflot and the education minister Vincent Peillon have also "spoken out of turn"  - most memorably over their (personal) views on the decriminalisation of cannabis.

And then there's the dear old (well at 51, not so old really) minister of industrial renewal Arnaud Montebourg who, in spite of efforts by both Ayrault and Hollande to restrain him (and others), has happily ignored all attempts to make him hold his tongue.

Remember Montebourg telling Ayrault that the prime minister "ran the government as though it were the local council in Nantes (the city in which Ayrault was mayor for 23 years) ?

Or better still (you can do the translation), "Tu fais chier la terre entière avec ton aéroport."

Anyway, with the local elections just a matter of weeks away, the media has gone into government reshuffle speculation overdrive once again.

Political pundits insist there'll be a major shake-up at some point between the end of March (after the second round of local elections) and the European elections in May.

Ayrault will keep his job for the moment but will in effect just be keeping the seat warm for everybody's darling Valls as the "man of action" and right person to head the government during the second half of Hollande's presidency.

There'll be fewer ministers (well, there could hardly be more...now could there) and some heavyweights (that means party elephants) will be wheeled in to entertain us.

And the names on everyone's lips will be familiar (how surprising) to anyone who has followed French politics over the past couple of decades...honestly.

Valls as prime minister would mean a vacancy at the interior ministry. The media's favourite?

Sit down for a moment.

Ségolène Royal!

Ségolène Royal refuses to be drawn about a possible entry into the government, Salon de l'Agriculture 2014 (screenshot BFM TV)

At the justice ministry, Christiane Taubira has "done her job" and would most likely be succeeded by Élisabeth Guigou, a real blast from the past as she held the same job back in 1997 for three years.

Former Areva boss (at last, someone with experience of industry) Anne Lauvergeon is one of those tipped to take over at the finance ministry (here's a question, why does France need both a finance minister and a budget minister when it has neither the money nor the ability to fund public spending?).

The soon-to-be former mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, will take over as minister of education.

And so on and so forth with room being made - should she so wish, for Martine Aubry,

Yes, it's all speculative. But that's what the media does best when "reporting" politics.

Perhaps though, it really is time for Hollande to start living up to his presidential election campaign slogan of "Le changement, c'est maintenant".

It would certainly make life more entertaining.




In case you're still scratching your head about the "replacement" ministers they are Bernard Cazeneuve (budget) and Philippe Martin (ecology).

A prime ministerial week in French politics - present, past and...er...future?

Bienvenue! to another look back at a week in French politics and as you can see from the title, the focus this time around is on prime ministers.

Before plunging head first into the "news" though, a few words on the position itself.

It's an odd sort of role in France because it's the president who gets to appoint (and sack) the person he thinks is the best man (or on one occasion, woman) for the job.

He (or she) has to come from the majority party in parliament . That's why there have been three periods of so-called "cohabitation" since the beginning of the Fifth Republic in 1958 when the prime minister and president have come from different parties.

But the position doesn't have to go to the leader of the majority party.

Had that been the case after the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections, François Hollande would have chosen Martine Aubry to be prime minister.

Perish the thought!

In fact, rare though it might be, the job doesn't even have to be given to an elected representative.

During his second term as president, for example, Jacques Chirac appointed career diplomat Dominique de Villepin as prime minister for two years.

Sometimes viewed as playing second fiddle to the president, the holder of the office of prime minister is (quoting from the constitution here) charged with "directing the actions of the government, being responsible for national defence and ensuring the implementation of legislation."

And oh yes, if you happen to be Jean-Marc Ayrault, practising the art of the Coué method.

Which brings us nicely to the end of the potted (with cavernous gaps admittedly) overview and allows us to get cracking with the news.

Where better to start (although you could probably think of one) than with Ayrault himself.

In an interview with the regional daily Presse-Océan - which just happens to cover the city of Nantes, where he was mayor for 23 years (ah, can't you just hear the echoes of Arnaud Montebourg's cutting comment that Ayrault "ran the country as though it were a local council"?) the prime minister was in...well...almost "Spice Boy" mode.

Yes, he seemed to have taken a little too literally the lyrics of Baby, Ginger, Posh, Scary and Sporty's 1997 hit "Spice up your life" with an "all you need is positivity" approach.

"There are positive signs that the economy is recovering," he told the paper.

"And we must do everything we can to encourage it because our priority has to be employment."

Oh change the record M. Ayrault.

Speaking of which, do you fancy some music?

No?

Tough.



Ah. That's better. Don't you all feel full of "positivity" now?

Well you'll need to if you're going to understand what's happening with the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

It managed to spend the first part of the week tying itself into knots over which political direction it would or wouldn't take rather than fulfilling its role as a credible opposition.

François Fillon (screenshot BFM TV report)

And it was all down to François Fillon, Ayrault's predecessor at the Matignon.

He dropped a bit of a bombshell at the weekend saying that in next year's municipal elections, UMP supporters should vote for the "least sectarian" candidate in the second round if the party's candidate didn't make it through and it came to a straight run-off between the far-right Front National and the Socialist party.

Yikes!

What the heck was he saying?

Break with the party's policy of urging supporters to vote for neither or was he actually shifting his position?

Nobody really seemed to know and the party went into headless chicken mode as its leaders assembled to clarify policy - all agreeing that the "neither nor" strategy was the one to be followed.

Fillon even appeared in front of the cameras afterwards to repeat that he had "always been against an alliance of any sort with the FN and it had been something he had fought against all his political life" and "he had no intention of changing his position."


Fillon: "j'ai toujours combattu les alliances... par BFMTV

So. What was he up to?

Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in the grass roots support there is among UMP party  members for some of the FN's policies.

As revealed in a poll at the beginning of the week, over 70 per cent "agreed" with what Fillon had apparently said and were in favour of the FN being considered as a "normal" party.

Also, let's not forget that Fillon is campaigning to be his party's candidate in the 2017 presidential election.

By creating a "buzz", he had not only proven himself a little less colourless than some might have thought, but had made life a little more difficult for the party's leader, Jean-François Copé.

Yes, Fillon looks set to continue with his operation "Stir everything up" for the next...three years.

Wonderful!

So that's present and past dealt with. What about the future?

Well, there was bad news of sorts for the man tipped by many (including himself) to be a future prime minister (president and master of the universe), Manuel Valls.

The interior minister is no longer the country's favourite politician.

In the monthly (yes, these things really are produced that frequently) poll Ipsos conducts for Le Point on political popularity (rather like a hit parade but without the moo-sick) Alain Juppé (a past, past prime minister among many other things) ranked Number One with a song taken from his most recent album "I'm really the man who should be president but I prefer sitting on the sidelines and appearing all statesman-like".

Valls meanwhile, who had been Top of the Pops since October 2012, slipped a place without blowing so much as a gasket.

Now, if, for some peculiar reason, you would like to follow the progression (or otherwise) of your (least) favourite French politician from month to month, you can check out the baromètre de l'action politique Ipsos / Le Point here.

And finally - because it's just too difficult to resist - François Hollande's interview on TF1 with Claire Chazal...as interpreted by those folk over at Les Guignols de l'Info over at Canal +.

screenshot from Les Guignols video

Take the recent chart-topping hit single (yes music has been rather a laboured leitmotif during this piece) "Papaoutai" (Friday's French music break a couple of weeks ago) from Belgian singer-songwriter Stromae, fiddle with the lyrics and put them in the mouth of Hollande's puppet et...voilà "Emploioutai"

EMPLOIOUTAI ? Le tube du quinquennat - Les Guignols du 16/09

And that seems a suitable point at which to wish you a great weekend.

Hey up - a week in French politics with the UMP and Syria, the return of "Sarko boy" and Hollande's unflattering back-to-school photo

A hearty welcome dear reader to another look back at a week in the wonderful  world of French politics.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Then I'll begin.

This week's piece was supposed to be dedicated entirely to the centre-right opposition Union pour un Mouvement (Pauvre) Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) but, quite frankly, its members didn't do or say very much of anything apart from making disunited calls for a debate/vote/clarity on the policy of the French president, François Hollande, to the situation in Syria.

Fat chance.

So to kick things off, the sad news that one of the country's most popular and charismatic ministers is considering retirement.

Well that's the take Le Figaro had from an interview Arnaud Montebourg gave to "M", Le Monde's magazine

Sure, the minister of industrial renewal had a lot more on his mind and wasn't shy about bad mouthing some of his governmental colleagues, but most interesting for Le Figaro (and other media outlets) were Montebourg's ambitions for the highest office in the land.

The presidential election (he didn't explicitly say in which year) was the only one that really interested him.

After his spell as minister he'll "quit politics as a career" because he's "tired of elections."

Shame.

screenshot from Canal + les guignols de l'info

Moving swiftly along though... and, as promised, the UMP.

While the party's president, Jean-François Copé, was urging the country's president not to become Barak Obama's "poodle" (all right so he didn't quite use that word) over what to do about Syria, and to show some "real leadership", he didn't exactly offer up any alternative strategy himself.

"There is no easy solution to the Syrian crisis," he said in an interview with Le Monde, amazing us all with his political perspicacity.

"The international community has waited so long that the situation is now difficult to control."

Right. Thank you so much M. Copé. As if we hadn't all realised that.

Copé wouldn't initially be drawn on the possibility of French intervention in Syria or whether such action should be put to a parliamentary vote.

But another UMP heavyweight, Alain Juppé, who has held just about every major governmental ministry at one time or another would... be drawn that is.

"What is happening in Syria is a terrible tragedy. Responsibility for this lies with Damascus," he said during the "Friends of Sarkozy" jamboree (more on that in a moment) at the beginning of the week.

"Personally, I believe we must act and I've said so from the very beginning.  But we cannot act alone. We have neither the means nor the legitimacy. We need a coalition, a clear goal, and to find a political solution," said the statesman-in-waiting as he called for the whole issue to be put to a parliamentary vote.



Ah. Isn't it great to have such lucidity and consistency coming from leading members of the opposition?

Perhaps that's why one journalist on television let slip the most telling of phrases in describing the UMP as the "main" opposition party, thereby...er implying there were other legitimate alternatives.

There are?

Au secours!

Now back to that "Association des amis de Sarkozy" (did you know there has been an official website up and running for quite a while now?) or "Friends of Sarkozy" get together.

The party might no longer be able to afford an annual summer conference, but it certainly seems to have found a viable alternative.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly gathered together in the southwestern French town of Arcachon (nice beaches by the way) on sunny Monday to heap praise on their beloved former leader, outlining once again why he had to return to the political frontline and insisting he was the real boss of the UMP and the man for 2017 (the next French presidential election, just in case you had forgotten).

Up "on stage" (where she belongs) Nadine Morano (yep...her) was daintily haranguing the 2,000-strong crowd, getting them all going with a "You want him back? I didn't hear. Are you sure?" chant.

Firm friend to the former president and loyal lieutenant (yes, it's a cheesy, lazy cliché, but what the heck) Brice Hortefeux was busy signing autographs. And Copé? Well he turned up to press the flesh and show his support just in case the worst (as far as he's concerned) happens and Sarkozy decides to ride his white horse to rescue the party, the country, the world...from Manuel Valls.

Good to know the cult of personality is alive and kicking.



Not present were...surprise, surprise...François Fillon, sharpening his knives elsewhere and attempting to give some colour to his character by doing the (for him) unthinkable and appearing in Paris Match.

All right, so he has done it before. But now he needs to appear "properly presidential" for his 2017 bid.

Also missing was Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, who had to get her children ready for la rentrée, Bruno Le Maire and Xavier Bertrand - both of whom have absolutely no pretensions to higher office themselves of course.

"Je soutiens Nicolas Sarkozy"  tee shirt (screenshot from BFM TV report)

And finally. We all know the UMP has been in a bit of a mess financially speaking (although that apparently is all but resolved) so perhaps it could borrow a centime or two from Boris Boillon.

Remember him?

Boillon was the diplomatic golden boy of Sarkozy's presidency.

From Iraq, "Sarko boy", as he was dubbed in the French media, went (via Facebook and that rather, shall we say, "daring" personal photo of him wearing nothing other than a pair of trunks and a smile - you can see the shot here if you feel so inclined) to Tunisia.

Nicely installed there at the ripe old age of just 41 after the country's 2011 Jasmine revolution, he set about making himself popular by insulting a woman journalist, before doing his mea culpa and apologising to the country as a whole on national television.

Anyway, that's all water under the diplomatic bridge because Boillon is no longer France's face abroad - anywhere

But he is back in the news after being stopped recently with a tidy little sum in his pocket.

Boillon was about to make his way to Brussels by train, when police apparently picked him up at Gare du Nord station in Paris with €350,000 and $40,000 worth of readies in his possession.

Er. Don't all transfers of more than €10,000 within the EU need to be declared?

You may ponder on that at your leisure.

Oh, by the way.

Did anyone else see the photo of François Hollande looking suitably gormless that AFP used to run alongside a piece on the start of the school year?

It was apparently withdrawn (an editorial decision) because it was considered "unflattering".

Can't post it here - copyright issues of course.

But you can see it here. Go on. Take a look.

Très Flanby indeed.

And this time it really is bon week-end.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet's "killer" instinct as she attacks the "boys club" mentality in French politics

She's a woman with clear political ambitions and one viewed perhaps by some (herself included) as a potential future French president.

No, not the far-right leader of the Front National, Marine Le Pen - although there's no denying her increasing popularity - but Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet from the centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (screenshot from BFM TV interview - April, 2013)

The self-confessed tough cookie with the "killer" instinct (is it perhaps easier to make these sorts of statements to a non-French media outlet in English?), gave an interview to NBC news this week in which she taok aim at the "boy's club" mentality within French politics and made pretty clear her ambitions.

The 40-year-old mother (important factor that - not least for NKM) of two is running for the position of mayor of Paris in next year's municipal elections and will most likely be the main challenger to the favourite, the Socialist party's Anne Hildalgo.

Why should it be important to NKM that she's a mother of two?

Well in the interview she says she was twice passed over for ministerial jobs because...she was pregnant.

Both the then-president Jacques Chirac and later (under Nicolas Sarkozy) the prime minister François Fillon, apparently told her she wouldn't a top job (although she was later given one in a reshuffle).

“They don’t realize what they are saying, she told NBC's Ian Johnston. "In fact, I’m not sure it was a real reason. I’m sure they had other reasons. [But] in their view, this reason was a good one," she added to show just how much of a "boys club" French politics still was and what an uphill struggle she and other women face.

No such words of understanding though for the former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Instead NKM says DSK and men like him, represent another battle for her and women of her generation.

“This is the type of man against which women of my age have to fight for women aged 20 not to have a problem and not to feel this type of attitude,” she said about the man who recently told CNN he "doesn't have a problem with women."

But perhaps the most revealing part of the interview is how NKM perceives politics and her role - past, present and most definitely future.

Chirac's "emmerdeuse" seems to relish the "compliment" paid to her by the former president, and all the while accepting the "killer" reputation ("Everybody is a killer in politics") and - without making it too difficult to read between the lines - clearly setting out a political agenda which aims at the very highest office ("Politicians that say they have no ambitions are a little ridiculous.")

Here's the link to the full NBC article.

French opposition UMP party as united as ever in perfect disharmony

Exciting news from France's opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP).

Jean-François Copé and François Fillon have agreed to let members decide on whether to hold another vote for the post of party leader.

Breathe deeply before you read on. Some of what follows will be more than confusing.

The UMP is in a bit of a mess at the moment. Actually it has been for quite a while now.

For example, take its reaction (sorry to have to mention this again) to the anti same-sex marriage "Manif pour tous" march in Paris last weekend.

Among those taking part in the demonstration were the party's president, Jean-François Copé, Henri Guaino - a former speechwriter to Nicolas Sarkozy when he was in office and now a member of parliament in his own right - and Laurent Wauquiez, a former minister and a supporter of Copé's "defeated" challenger for the leadership of the party - François Fillon.

Notable by their absence though were Fillon himself, Alain Juppé - a former minister of just about anything you can think of and the current mayor of Bordeaux, and the party's likely candidate for next year's race to be mayor of Paris, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (NKM).

Copé - ever the slick opportunist - was plainly using the demonstration as a means by which to protest against the current government and drum up support for the party in next year's local elections.

While for Guaino, it was clearly a matter of sticking to his principals - even if he had mistakenly voted in favour of the bill to allow same-sex marriage when it passed its final reading in parliament - and he was "proud" to have taken part.

Juppé, who unlike Guiano had managed to hit the right button and say "non" in the final vote - had previously stated he would be a no-show as the law had been passed and it had to be respected.

And NKM, who had abstained in the parliamentary vote, obviously had other more important issues on her mind namely that of the far-right Front National's call  to vote against her when polls open in the UMP's primary to choose its candidate for mayor of Paris.

Phew!

On the subject of "voting" that brings us back neatly to an issue that remains unresolved and illustrates the state of health of the party...the struggle for the leadership.

You thought it was over?

Wrong.

Jean-François Cope and François Fillon (screenshot from i>Télé report)

Remember Copé's glorious "victory" over Fillon in last year's battle when both men declared themselves to have won and how the party split in two for a while after claims of vote-rigging and fraud?

The debacle dragged on for weeks until the two men and their supporters managed to bury the proverbial hatchet (somewhere) and reach some sort of working agreement.

They created an internal structure stuffed to bursting point with vice presidents to represent the two very different directions the party was trying to take at the same time.

Even though Copé perhaps has had the upper hand - after all he's the one who holds the post of party leader - his legitimacy has been questioned, and the issue of whether to hold another vote has never really gone away...until now.

Because on Monday the two men announced a solution which will put an end to divisions within the party and steer it on a true red, white and blue course for the future.

They've agreed to let party members decide whether there should be another vote to choose the party president.

Yes in other words (and sorry, there's no way to make this clear without constant repetition) their recommendation is that party members vote in June on whether they should vote again in December.

Now doesn't that make complete and utter political (non)sense?

Pass the gin.

Mind your political language - French style

Choice words from two leading lights of France's opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) over the past couple of days.

One a former president of the party - and the country come to that.

The other currently holding the top job within the party after winning that infamous battle last year, and perhaps just a little too keen on following his predecessor's political example...in more senses than one apparently.

No prizes for guessing who the true blue pair are: Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-François Copé.

Jean-François Cope in Nimes (screenshot from TF1 report)

Sarkozy is off to Las Vegas this week.

No he's not going to play the slots.

Rather he has been invited to address the SkyBridge Alternatives (SALT) Conference, a high level gab fest organised by the New York based investment fund and "committed to facilitating balanced discussions and debates on macro-economic trends, geo-political events and alternative investment opportunities within the context of a dynamic global economy" and allowing its international attendees to "to connect with global leaders and network with industry peers."

Sounds like fun.

At least he'll be moving and shaking it with the very "best".

But before Sarkozy left, he had a few things to say to those closest to him, if a piece which the national daily Aujuourd'hui en France-Le Parisien has entitled "The warm up for Sarkozy in Las Vegas" is to believed, about the state of the country and the performance of some French politicians.

Not without surprise Sarkozy describes the current French president, François Hollande, as "crap".

"The socialist government is collapsing in on itself and I am extremely worried," Sarkozy reportedly told his confidants who seemed only to happy to "share" them with the paper.

And he was also amazed that the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, admitted a couple of months ago that one of his (junior) ministers, Arnaud Montebourg, had insulted him over the 'phone with his...pardon the French..."Tu fais chier la terre entière avec ton aéroport de Notre-Dame-des-Landes, tu gères la France comme le conseil municipal de Nantes."

More evidence for Sarkozy that Hollande was simply "lacking authority".

Speaking of prime ministers, Sarkozy had less than tender words for François Fillon, the man he views as having been his "employee" during his five years in office.

"C'est un Loser," he said.

How charmingly refreshing from the man who made the expression "Casse-toi, pauv' con !" internationally famous back in 2008 and apparently still thinks perhaps he'll be "obliged to return".




He clearly hasn't lost his touch.

So what's Copé up to?

Well it looks as though he has been reaching for the same thesaurus to find suitably evocative expressions with which to get his point across.

Speaking to the party faithful in the French city of Nimes on Monday to mark the occasion of what he liked to refer to as "the anniversary of Hollande's failure" since taking office, Copé offered a word of advice in between a generous sprinkling of "cons" including the newly-coined prediction of a "printemps des cons".

"Il faut arrêter d'emmerder les français," he said.

Ah politics. Such a rich and varied language all of its own.

A "unifying" moment of radio silence for Jean-François Copé

If you turn on your radio on a Sunday morning in France and tune in to Europe 1 at 10 o'clock, then you'll be able to hear arguably one of the country's most experienced and perhaps political journalists, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, grilling his guests on "Le Grand Rendez-vous".

Elkabbach is no stranger to many French, having held several high profile posts for television and radio, including president of France Télévisions (December 1993 - June 1996), president of the parliamentary TV channel Public Sénat (December 1999 - April 2009) and directeur général (April 2005) and later president (until June 2008) of the radio station for which he still works, Europe 1.

"Le Grand Rendez-vous" is a sort of "joint venture" if you like, between Europe 1, the popular national daily Aujourd'hui en France, the all-news channel i>Télé and TV5 Monde.

A fellow journalist from each of the three partners sits alongside Elkabbach, but there's no doubting who's in charge.

The programme lasts just one hour, during which the guest - usually a politician (but not always) - goes head-to-head (or should that be the other wary round?) with Elkabbach on the most pressing matters of the day or the past week.

The list of recent guests includes, politicians Michel Sapin, François Fillon and Pierre Moscovici, trade unionist leader Laurent Berger, former CEO of EADS Louis Gallois and Cardinal André Vingt-Trois.

As the whole thing is filmed and available live on the Net, most guests - especially the politicians, keen to preen and aware of the importance of image - have taken to inviting along people of their choice to sit in the audience.

Space is limited by the size of the studio of course, but some politicians cannot resist a show of strength.

Such was the case recently with Jean-François Copé, the president of the centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a popular movement, UMP).

Jean-François Copé (screenshot from Europe 1's "Le Grand Rendez-vous")

You might remember, he was "elected" to that position after the party's internal voting shenanigans last year and the ensuing stalemate with former prime minister François Fillon.

Events have moved on since then. The two men have buried the proverbial hatchet - although it's not sure where - the party split has been "healed" and there are vice-presidents galore from both camps.

And that "bonhomie" among party members was something the ever media-savvy Copé was eager to stress during his one hour with Elkabbach.

Except the seasoned journalist wasn't letting Copé off the hook so easily and at one point, after listening to "unity...yadda, yadda, yadda", "cooperation...yadda, yadda, yadda" and "agreement...yadda, yadda, yadda" for more than long enough, Elkabbach challenged his guest.

He pointed out that all 22 of the party members Copé had invited to sit in the audience while being interviewed, were from his "clan": they had all supported him before, during and after the leadership voting debacle.

Rattling of a list of names of those present, Elkabbach asked, "But where are the (so-called) Fillonists? There's not a single one here," he said, finger raised.

http://www.canalplus.fr/c-infos-documentaires/pid3847-c-la-nouvelle-edition.html

"There's no sign of (Valérie) Pécresse, (Éric) Ciotti not even - excuse me for saying this - François Baroin....how come?" continued Elkabbach.

"What a silence," he exclaimed as Copé took more than a moment to summon his response.

It was a classic...a moment when a usually smug Copé floundered, discovering that he had been well and truly outmanoeuvred

Take a look - at the accompanying video from five minutes and 12 seconds as Copé quite rightly gets his come-uppance.

La Nouvelle Edition du 03/05 - Partie 3