François Hollande's irreproachable government and code of conduct - good stuff, isn't it?

Does anyone remember François Hollande saying in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche during the presidential election campaign that he would "undertake not to have anyone around him either at the Élysée or in government who had been accused and/or found guilty by a court"?

(screenshot BFMTV report)

His statement suggested he wanted a "clean" government; one beyond reproach and whose ministers would set a moral example to the rest of the country.

Hey, once the government had been named, Hollande even made them all sign a charter of ethics or code of conduct which, although it didn't explicity make reference to past "misdemeanours", stressed the importance of transparency and "good behaviour".

Among the pledges each minister made were that there would be no conflict of interests, no accepting private presents or invitations that could be called into question, the respect of collective responsibility for decisions taken by the government, to give up any other local or regional political offices they might hold.

And on the more "normal" level they were obliged to travel by train rather than 'plane whenever possible and ensure that they respected the rules of the road when driving or being driven.

Wonderful stuff, isn't it?

But back to that initial undertaking - the one to be surrounded by those with an unblemished past - legally speaking.

How's he doing?

Well for starters there's the prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault who, back in 1997 when he was mayor of Nantes was handed down "a suspended prison sentence for favouritism in the allocation of a city hall contract".

Then there's the foreign minister Laurent Fabius who was tried but acquitted of manslaughter in 1999 in the tainted blood scandal which took place when he was prime minister in the 1980s.

Let's not forget Christine Taubira, the newly-installed justice minister who back in 2004 was found guilty by an industrial tribunal in an unfair dismissal case brought against her by a former parliamentary assistant.

And bringing us bang up to date of course is the case of Arnaud Montebourg the minister of industrial renewal who has been found guilty this week of publicly insulting the management of the ferry company SeaFrance last year.


All right, they can all be "explained"  - they have - and justification made to show that in each case the minister has been "legally rehabilitated" (what?) or the case brought against them didn't have an impact on their "personal integrity".

But - phew.

Barely two weeks into a new government.

What the heck was that campaign pledge all about?

Hot air, it would seem.

And the charter of ethics? Well let's see just how many exceptions are made to that as the days, weeks, months, years roll by.


Gouvernement Hollande : polémique autour des... par BFMTV

DSK for French president 2012 - the saga continues

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn (or DSK as he's more commonly known here), has been in Paris this week.

And the burning subject on the lips of everyone (oh all right then, journalists) was whether he wanted to be the Socialist party's candidate for the 2012 French presidential elections.

Not without reason perhaps the media was - and remains - enthralled by the prospect, and of course the subject came up in both television and newspaper interviews he gave while in the French capital.

He might be head of one of the most important organisations overseeing the global financial system, but the fact of the matter is that DSK's trips to Paris are significant on the domestic political front because he's considered by many as a potentially major political opponent to the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, should he become the Socialist party's candidate for office in the 2012 elections.

The polls say so, and it's not something new.

Nor is it something that has escaped the attention of Sarkozy, who back in July 2007 quickly secured the agreement of other European Union leaders to nominate DSK as the head of the IMF when the job became available.

Every time DSK puts in an appearance here - be it in his official capacity, or on a private visit - the saga of the "return of Dominique Strauss-Kahn for 2012" is re-ignited.

And such was the case this past week when he faced the inevitable questions on his popularity among the French electorate and what the consequences might be.

Appearing on the mid-evening television news magazine "Le Grand Journal" on Canal + on Wednesday, DSK avoided all the questions about any presidential ambitions, and especially the possibility of resigning from his current job before reaching the end of his tenure, with panache.

"You have people who spend their lives living in the past or the future," he said.

"I live in the present," he added.

"Of course it's always pleasant when people like you, but there have been times when I've been less popular," he said.

"Maybe the fact that I'm far away (in Washington) contributes to my popularity."

If DSK remains for the moment somewhat loathe to discuss a possible presidential run, then others are certainly less hesitant about preparing the path for him.

They include a former prime minister, Laurent Fabius, who said in a television interview that Strauss-Kahn was one of the few Socialist figures who could "shoulder the responsibility of being president" and the leader of the party, Martine Aubry.

"If he proves to be the party's best candidate then he must return," she said during a political talk show on France 2 television.

"But it's still too early to say who is the (party's) candidate capable of winning the presidency," she went on to say, adding that she and Strauss-Kahn shared the same opinion.

Undoubtedly DSK and the 2012 presidential election is a story "to be continued".

The debate over Jean Sarkozy's new job continues

Reactions are coming thick and fast to the news last week that Jean Sarkozy, the son of the French president, is in line for a top job at l'Etablissement public d'aménagement du quartier d'affaires de la Défense (Epad), the development agency for business district of La Defense on the outskirts of Paris.

The media has gone into a near frenzy reporting the different responses there have been since the retiring incumbent, Patrick Devedjian, made the announcement.

Politicians from the opposition Socialist party have criticised the nomination, as have some from the right of the political spectrum.

And an online petition has already gathered 40,000 signatures calling for him not to accept the job.

The main sticking points seem to be his age - Sarkozy is just 23 - his (lack of) experience and of course the fact that he's the son of the French president.

"We need someone (in the post) who has a good grasp of the law," said the former Socialist party prime minister Laurent Fabius, more than a little ironically.

"Mr Sarkozy is in his second year (at University) studying law, which is obviously a very strong argument in his favour!"

There are of course also the thinly-disguised inferences of nepotism and the fact that carrying the same name as the French president has helped Sarkozy's rise politically at such a young age.

"Who wouldn't be shocked by the way in which this has been done?" said the Socialist party's 2007 presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal.

"If he didn't have the name he has, would he be where he is today?"

Meanwhile members of the ruling centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) of which Sarkozy is a member have come to his defence, saying that the whole political polemic (of which the French seem often seem so fond) and especially the accusations that Sarkozy is benefitting from being the "son of" is nothing more than an attack whipped up by the Left.

"It's an election, a competition and there's no need to create such a polemic," the prime minister, François Fillon, said on national radio on Monday morning referring to the fact that Sarkozy is also an elected local councillor in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine where his father was once mayor.

"What matters is to have been elected at the ballot box as we've also seen for the son of François Mitterrand (Gilbert) or the daughter of Jacques Delors (Martine Aubry)," he added.

Not everyone to the right of the political spectrum in France agrees though.

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, head of Debout la République (Arise the Republic, DLR) thinks the appointment is a mistake and sends out the wrong message to the public at large.

"It's unacceptable that a son of the French president, no matter what his qualities, should head up one of Europe's major business districts which is bound to see the construction of more office space," he said.

"And of course we have to question his ability as a 23-year-old student to occupy such a position".

And what of the main protagonist in all of this?

Well until now he had remained silent on the subject. But on Tuesday he told the national daily Le Parisien/Aujourd'hui en France that he felt more than capable of doing the job and had quickly become used to the dealing with any opposition.

"Ever since I started in politics I've been the object of criticism," he said.

"But I'm very determined very motivated and I just see all the attacks the Left are trying to launch my way," he added.

"Whatever I do, I'll be criticised."

A Royal snub for Martine Aubry

Based on recent evidence, not that much has changed within the French Socialist party since Martine Aubry took over its leadership last year.

She's still facing opposition within the party - and most notably from the woman she narrowly beat in last year's contest to become leader, Ségolène Royal.

Last week Aubry announced that a number of the so-called "elephants" - or its old guard - had accepted her invitation to join her in helping rebuild the party.

"In the past few months we've put in place the walls and foundations (for renovation)," Aubry said as she heralded the return of the former prime minister, Laurent Fabius, and Bertrand Delanoë, the current mayor of Paris, into the fold of the party's national bureau.

"What has been missing is the cement," she added.

"The cement is unity."

Top marks perhaps for trying, but once again Aubry has run into an obstacle - and it's none other than Ségoléne Royal, who has turned down the offer.

Instead Royal suggested that her proposed place be filled by Kamel Chibli, a 32-year-old party activist and deputy mayor for the town of Laval in the northwestern French département of Mayenne.

So, young and of Moroccan origin, exactly what the party needs as far as Royal is concerned and a person she considers as being part "of a new generation that must be brought in to take over responsibility within the party," as Royal's spokesman, Guillaume Garot explained.

"Faithful to her idea of a France being a melting pot, she (Royal) wants to give responsibility to people from all ethnic backgrounds," he added.

Of course Royal has a point.

The party's reliance on the elephants has been a source of criticism for many over recent years, and Aubry's move could simply be interpreted as an attempt to renovate the party by turning to those whose names are all-to-familiar to the electorate at large.

Among those names of course are some that reluctantly threw their weight behind Royal when she was the party's unsuccessful candidate in the 2007 presidential elections.

And some of them undoubtedly have not so ill-disguised aspirations to be the party's candidate for that same position in 2012.

But while Royal's reaction is backed up to a great extent by another one of her supporters in the shape of Manuel Valls, who referred more openly to the "return of the elephants", her suggestion was turned down flat in a manner which surely smacks equally of a counter snub.

"Renovation has already occurred with the national secretariat and the national bureau of the party," said François Lamy, a political advisor to Aubry.

"Now we're saying that it's important to have experience and unity within the party," he added.

"That's why Bertrand Delanoë and Laurent Fabius have been offered posts and that's what they understood."