(Writing By Alexandria Sage, editing by Gareth Jones)
Posted on 08/03/2013 4:23:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes of a political comeback got a boost on Tuesday after a fundraising campaign he spearheaded to avert a financial crisis for his conservative UMP party raised 8.3 million euros in less than a month.
The national drive to refill the UMP coffers -- dubbed "Sarkothon" by the media -- underscores Sarkozy's continued star appeal among centre-right voters despite his loss of the presidency to Socialist Francois Hollande in May 2012.
With the UMP's finances now largely repaired, Sarkozy can more easily prepare for a possible presidential bid in 2017.
For this, he will have to unite his fractured opposition party and present voters with a compelling alternative to Hollande, whose 14 months in office have been marred by a sluggish economy and rising unemployment.
French election auditors ruled this month that the UMP had overspent during Sarkozy's 2012 election campaign. As a penalty, they ordered it to repay the 11 million euros ($14.58 million) of state money it had been advanced.
Having raised most of this sum, the party is now negotiating a two-month extension to repay the full sum to French bank Societe Generale, UMP Treasurer Catherine Vautrin told RFI radio on Tuesday, averting the risk of default if the original July 31 deadline had not been met.
Vautrin said that 86,000 UMP voters out of the 300,000 on the books had donated to the party, while the party's lawmakers had been urged to contribute up to 2,000 euros each.
Sarkozy himself gave 7,500 euros, the maximum allowed under the law, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Sarkothon is a success
http://www.france24.com/en/20130731-ump-finances-sarkozy-gueant-national-front
Nicolas Sarkozy thanks donors after UMP holds fund drive
France’s UMP still short of cash after successful fund drive
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/07/30/Frances-UMP-still-short-of-cash-after-successful-fund-drive/UPI-94331375213036/
and from the Guardian’s snarkathon:
How far does E410,000 get you in France?
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jul/26/410000-france-sarkozy-bruni
Wasn’t there a young conservative free market less govt woman thinking about running for President?
There was a Marine Le Pen, she’s a Nazi rather than being for a free market. Hard to criticize her for this though:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3026481/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3033483/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3033584/posts
No there was another woman. This woman was a member of Sarkozy’s party.
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