Political parachuting – a French electoral tradition

The French will get to go the polls yet again – some of them twice -  in little under a month in parliamentary elections which could determine how much of a mandate the newly-elected president François Hollande will realistically have in pursuing his declared policies.

After all let’s not forget just how close the May 6 presidential run-off with Nicolas Sarkozy was: just over 1.1 million votes separated the two men and there were of course over two million blank votes.

Still a win is a win and Sarkozy has had praise heaped upon him for the dignified manner in which he has handled defeat.

Time then for the political parties to “tourner la page” as the French seem so fond of saying, and lock horns for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

France needs a proper opposition able to counterbalance the power of the Socialist party at local, regional, Senate and now presidential levels, runs the thinking behind the strategy of the centre-right Union pour un mouvement populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party.

It wants to show that the choice of Hollande was the wrong one as his policies “threaten the sovereignty and independence of the country.”

Meanwhile the Socialists want the French to endorse their choice of Hollande with a strong showing for the party in the parliamentary elections.

All well and good – a campaign fought on issues and ideological differences.

Sounds great doesn’t it.

Except that ugly tradition of parachuting candidates into chosen constituencies threatens to make its usual mockery of the political process and take up more than its fair share of media time over the coming weeks.

First up of course there’s  Jean-Luc Mélenchon, fresh from his presidential first-round 11 per cent “triumph” and puffed up ego.

He seems to have conveniently forgotten that he’s an elected member of the European parliament for the southwest of France and has now turned his attention to a seat in the National Assembly.

And it’s not just any seat. It’s one at the other end of the country in Hénin-Beaumont  in the northern département of Pas-de-Calais: one also being contested by the Front National’s Marine Le Pen.

Far Left versus Far Right – a clash of the Titans.

“I’m standing here because there’s a battle of national and international significance,” he announced on Saturday, well aware how the decision will play with Le Pen and the French media.

He’s a wily politician.

But Mélenchon isn’t alone.

The UMP has (at least) two high-ranking members who are being given a helping hand by the party in their future aspirations.

Sarkozy’s prime minister throughout his five years in office, François Fillon reportedly has his eye on a future run for Mayor of Paris. For that of course he needs to have a base in the capital.

Little matter that he already has a parliamentary seat in the western département of Sarthe, one he has held since 1981. In June Fillon will be standing for a sure-thing in the seventh arrondissement in Paris.

And then there’s Henri  Guaino, Sarkozy’s right hand man and advisor at the Elysée for the past five years. He wants to continue his career in parliament and the UMP has decided to allow him to contest another safe seat  in the département of Yvelines just outside of the capital.

Hang about though, there’s a problem as the UMP already has a declared candidate in the form of Olivier Delaporte, a mayor in one of the towns covered by the constituency, and he’s more than miffed at being sidelined.

So much so that Delaporte is threatening to run against Guaino.

Ah yes. parliamentary elections and politics in France – most definitely an honorable affair in which the candidate out to make a political point (Mélenchon) or the one deemed most in need of an easy ride (Guaino) is allowed to do exactly that.

In the case of the latter, Just ask the Socialist party’s former culture minister and Keith Richard look-alike Jack Lang.

Sarkozy, the French Socialist party's "head of human resources"

He's at it again. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been bashing the opposition Socialist party.

And while it wasn't supposed to have been recorded on camera, somehow a clip of his sometimes less-than-diplomatic (and in this case probably intentional) way with words has managed to make its way on to the Net.

It occurred earlier this week at a meeting of 800 or so faithful of the governing centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) Union for a Popular Movement,UMP) party at Lingolsheim in the east of France.

Sarkozy was there rallying support among party members, with an eye on the regional elections next March.

It was supposed to be a "closed" session: no journalists, no cameras and nothing to record what was said - apart from those present.

Except, as often seems to be the case under such circumstances, someone couldn't resist using their mobile 'phone to capture some of the more choice moments, especially when the president chose to tell the audience what he thought was wrong with the opposition Socialist party.

It started off gently enough with some comments on the process of "opening up the government", which has characterised Sarkozy's time in office ever since he came to power in May 2007.

"I didn't need to reach out (to other political parties)," he said.

"I've done it because I think France is a country that needs to be reminded of the need for tolerance and not bigotry or division. It's a country that has to be more tolerant."



And then Sarkozy decided to turn his attention to what he thought was wrong with the opposition Socialist party by joking about its leadership in a way he has done before.

"You know what the Socialist party really lacks is a director of human resources," he said.

"They've got the talent but they simply don't know how to use it, so I've decided to do the job for them and to become their HR director," he continued.

And then just to drive the point home, he added, "(Dominique) Strauss-Kahn? He's in Washington. (Bernard) Kouchner? With us. Jack Lang? With me.

"A party like that with such talent...and then it chooses Martine Aubry or Ségolène Royal."

While there was apparently "polite" laughter among those gathered, one person seemed not be be so enthusiastic, and used a mobile 'phone to record the "highlights" and that in spite of instructions that no filming be allowed.

Even though the clip has made its way on to the Net, what he said was certainly not a faux pas on the part of the French president, but a shared (not-so) private joke with those that would most appreciate it and one with which many others might well agree.

Plus given the fact that Sarkozy has in the past referred to himself as the Socialist party's director of human resources in front of television cameras, it's unlikely that he regrets the story getting out to a wider audience.

And France's best-dressed male politician is...?

Oh come on. You know you're interested. After all isn't it the most compelling part of politics...the fluffy celebrity side of things?

Read on, and you'll find out (eventually) who the French think is their best-dressed male politician, which you have to admit makes a change from those endless polls ranking political figures by their popularity.

Actually that in itself seems to be something of a national pastime in France. At least the media would seem to have us believe it matters, with polls coming thick and fast on a monthly basis.

Mind you, it has been fairly quiet on that front recently - probably something to do with much of the country having been on holiday for the month of August.

For sure those polls have been published as frequently as ever, but they haven't really made the headlines lately apart from the odd mention that the former president, Jacques Chirac, is the nation's favourite political figure with a 76 per cent approval rating ahead of the ever-popular foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner (70 per cent) and his former underling, Rama Yade (67 per cent) who was junior minister for human rights until the position was scrapped in June's reshuffle and now finds herself "elevated" (heavy on the irony) to sport.

For his part the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has dropped a point to 47 per cent, but has nonetheless managed to climb a place in the overall listings from July to 27th place.

Anyway back to that "style" survey conducted for the monthly men's magazine Optimum by l’institut Isama and the results of which are prefaced with proof that clothes maketh the man.

"The image of the politicians depends first of all on their position, what they have to say and what they do," runs the introduction helpfully.

"But it's also based on indirect elements or factors that have little to to with politics such as the individual's appeal, way of expressing himself (yes we're talking just male politicians here) or what he wears. In other words 'style'."

There you go, confirmation if you will, that appearances do matter.

And the winner is - (drum roll please) - none other than Dominique de Villepin.

Does the name ring a bell? It should do. He was a foreign minister and then prime minister under Chirac and his is the name on everybody's lips here in France at the moment as he's one of the key players embroiled in the so-called "Clearstream affair".

In a nutshell, de Villepin is a defendant in a trial that has just got underway, and is charged with "plotting to discredit" Sarkozy when the two were ministers under Chirac.

It's a complicated case that has taken up more than a few column inches in newspapers and is pretty much the story coming out of France at the moment.

There's masses of stuff about it out on the Net and to go into detail about it here would rather spoil the flippant tone of this piece, so without further ado let's take a look at who else figures on the list behind the dashing de Villepin.

In second place is the former (Socialist) culture minister, Jack Lang with the name once again of Kouchner (another Socialist - of sorts) popping up in third. They're followed by the prime minister, François Fillon, the (Socialist) mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë and a former (Socialist) finance minister and wannabe president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn who is currently head honcho at the International Monetary Fund.

With four of the first six coming from the ranks of the Socialist party, you could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that if looks really counted for anything supporters of the party would choose one of them as the next presidential candidate in 2012 - even though two of them (Lang and Kouchner) currently at 70 years of age might be considered a bit long in the tooth by then.

So with de Villepin getting the thumbs up for style, what of the plaintiff in that Clearstream affair (sorry to have to return to that) and the man who would least likely be described as his best friend...Sarkozy?

After all the 54-year-old, all action French president is a keep fit fan (we see pictures of him jogging regularly) and he's married to a former clothes horse.

In fact some commentators have remarked on how sharp his dress sense has become since he and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy tied the knot.

Well Sarkozy scrapes into the top 10 - even though he surely won't be pleased once more to find himself behind his prime minister - with a rating of 5,32 and Isama pointing out in its summary that his style appeals to all age groups apart from the 18-24-year-olds, who rank him just 32nd.

There's a message there somewhere isn't there?

So that's the men done and dusted.

We now await with bated breath a similar poll for France's female politicians.

Ségolène Royal apologises to Spain on behalf of Sarkozy

Yes you read the headline correctly, Ségolène Royal, the Socialist party candidate in the 2007 French presidential election, has written to the Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, apologising for remarks made by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, last week.

And her letter has led to a wave of protest from the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement (Union for a Popular Movement Populaire, UMP) left the Socialist party leadership not quite knowing how to respond and dominated the French headlines for the past couple of days.

Perhaps you remember that Sarkozy is alleged to have made comments during a meal at the Elysée palace (his official residence) in which he criticised some other world leaders.

In a story that made many of the world's newspapers Sarkozy purportedly said for example that Zapatero wasn't particularly clever, German chancellor Angela Merkel lacked vision, and US president Barack Obama was inexperienced.

At the weekend Frédéric Lefebvre, the spokesman for the UMP rejected the story which first appeared in the left-of-centre national daily Libération, saying that it was a "tract" by the paper in an attempt to ruin the reputation of the country.

"This daily, after having lost a number of readers, is also losing its credibility," he said.

Even though some people present at the meal have denied that Sarkozy made such a statement, Libération is standing by its story and the paper's publishing director, Laurent Joffrin has even written to the Elysée palace requesting an apology.

Enter centre stage Ségolène Royal and her "apology" to Zapatero on behalf of the French president - a move which has had the centre-right virtually fuming with indignation and some strong language.

Immediately after news of the letter surfaced, the UMP big wigs and "friends of Sarkozy" started firing their salvoes and attacking Royal.

Xavier Bertrand the president of the party accused her of being "a specialist of manipulation".

Yves Jégo, the junior minister for overseas department put in the boot saying "she has ridiculed and dishonoured our country."

A long-time friend of the French president and now minister of employment, Brice Hortefeux went on the offensive saying that Royal "should apologise for all the silly statements she had made."

And Lefebvre perhaps said what many in the party seemed to be thinking in launching the most personal of attacks and suggesting on national radio that Royal had "lost her marbles" and perhaps needed "psychological help".

So the Socialist party was making headlines again - or more accurately Royal was - as it was her name that was on everybody's lips and featuring prominently within the French media.

Indeed the reaction from the Socialist party itself was mixed. The leadership - namely Martine Aubry, the woman who beat Royal in the race to become the party's general secretary last December, remained silent.

But others - most notably Vincent Peillon, one of Royal's "lieutenants" and most loyal supporters was willing to speak out saying "It's not by getting used to the habit of Sarkozy insulting ipolitical partners that France will rediscover its credibility."

Pierre Moscovici a member of parliament for the Socialist party commented that he was sorry for what were "extremely sexist remarks on the part of the UMP" and Jean-Marie Le Guen, another French Socialist party parliamentarian weighed in by insisting that the rhetoric about who should apologise for what had been a more than a little muddled.

"It's not the declarations of Ségolène Royal that are offensive," he said. "But those of Sarkozy about Spain, Merkel etc."

Into Monday and the debate still raged, this time with a former Socialist party education minister and culture minister, Jack Lang, stepping into the fray.

"I want to say to our Spanish friends, 'forgive her'," he said on national radio.

"How can one react to unsubstantiated rumours that have even been denied by those who were present at the meal and write to the prime minister of Spain 'in the name of France'?" he asked.

"It's completely disproportionate and inadequate," said Lang describing Royal's behaviour as a "faux pas".

So what is everyone supposed to make of Royal's actions?

Perhaps the answer lies in a report made by François-Xavier Bourmaud, a political journalist for the centre-right national daily, Le Figaro.

While the debate continues over whether Royal was right or wrong to do what she did, one thing is for certain. She is back in the limelight and once again using the tactic of "provocation" - a strategy that has proven to be typical of her behaviour in the past, according Bourmaud.

"She lost the leadership battle (in December) but with 50 per cent of the membership behind her she still has a voice that counts - as the polemic surrounding her current statements proves." he says.

"When François Hollande (her former partner) was leader of the party, he responded 'what do you expect me to do? She doesn't behave in the same way politically as the rest of us.' And now the party is seeing yet again that she refuses to play the political game in the same way as the rest of them," he added.

"But in the long term it could help her to establish herself as being far and away the strongest opponent (to Sarkozy) because in two years when the Socialist party is choosing its candidate, it'll probably be based on a series of polemic and one thing is certain - Royal is not going to stop."