Posted on 04/23/2006 7:56:17 PM PDT by blam
Sarkozy reaches out to far-right voters
· If you dislike France then go, says interior minister
· Poll puts Le Pen in third place in presidential vote
Kim Willsher in Paris
Monday April 24, 2006
The Guardian (UK)
France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been accused of pandering to the extreme right in his campaign to become president by telling those who do not like the country that they can get out. Speaking this weekend to 2,500 members of his ruling right-of-centre UMP party, he appeared to use the language of France's anti-immigrant parties - a move that won applause. "If people don't like being in France they only have to leave. We've had more than enough of always having the feeling that we must apologise for being French. We cannot change our laws our habits or our customs because they don't please a tiny minority."
His speech follows violence over planned employment laws, widespread rioting last November and recent polls showing that more French voters are turning to the National Front.
Philippe de Villiers, the leader of the nationalist Mouvement pour la France party, accused Mr Sarkozy of copying his slogan, France, you like it or leave it.
"The Sarko-show goes on," he told Le Journal du Dimanche, adding: "Since he's been in power what has he been waiting for to stop immigration, to expel Islamic extremists, to ban their activities linked to terrorism, to impose a republican charter for the building of mosques?
"How can he propose to finance them [mosques] with taxpayers' money, suggest that foreigners be given the right to vote, positive discrimination and then try to wipe out all that with a catchy slogan."
The riots in November and the recent debacle over the first employment contract, aimed at cutting youth unemployment, have left...
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
GO SARKO, France's last hope.
He's a more reliable, reasonable politican then LePen. He basically has all of the good aspects that LePen has and none of the bad.
btt
And De Villiers? I think he has officially taken the reigns from Le Pen.
I thought that LePen's daughter was taking over.
De Villiers is a leader of another party.
You're right. De Villier's Party is very similar to the the Le Pen's National Front on its stance on Islamic immigration (i.e. he wants to ban it). He's a much younger candidate who is probably a bit more palatable than Le Pen (i.e. without the anti-Semitic overtones).
The amazing thing is that the so-called "right" in France does not favor free markets, or capitalism. They are tied to the Socilist system just as much as the "leftists". Thus it is largely a fight about immigration.
Of course here we can't buy a fight about immigration, and our supposed free market advocates, the Republicans are working hard to see if they can equal the Dems in support for socialist programs. Even introducing a huge new entitlement.
related:
Party on Right Gains Support After (Muslim) Rioting Upsets France
NY Times | April 23, 2006 | CRAIG S. SMITH
Posted on 04/22/2006 8:28:00 PM EDT by nj26
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1619729/posts
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