Posted on 03/14/2005 12:55:59 PM PST by jb6
PARIS, March 14 (AFP) - France's opposition Socialist party (PS) was struggling to contain a bitter internal row Monday after a senior left-winger compared the leadership's support for the proposed EU constitution with the vote that set up the collaborationist Vichy regime in World War II.
Henri Emmanuelli, who heads a minority party faction calling for a "no" vote in the May 29 referendum on the constitution, was widely condemned for breaking a political taboo when he made his remarks on a local radio station over the week-end.
"A majority of Socialists voted full powers to Laval in 1940. Those who resisted have gone down in posterity. Those who voted ended in disgrace," he said on France-Bleu Gascoigne.
In July 1940 -- after the military collapse to the invading German army -- the elected French parliament voted to disband itself and give full powers to Marshal Philippe Petain. The pro-Nazi Pierre Laval became Petain's vice-premier.
Amid the furore over his comments, Emmanuelli complained that their meaning -- that it was possible for the Socialist party leadership to make a historic mistake -- had been distorted by the media.
But the comparison with one of the most reviled figures in 20th century French politics left even his political allies taken aback.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a fellow leader of the New World faction of the PS, said he "totally disapproved" of Emmanuelli's comments. "It is neither true, nor is it in our interests, nor is it the level of debate to which the left aspires," he said.
Party leader Francois Hollande -- a strong advocate of a "yes" vote in the EU referendum -- said Emmanuelli had made an "unacceptable blunder. He must rectify it as soon as possible."
The row exposed the chasm that continues to divide the PS three months after an internal vote on the EU constitutional treaty that was intended to establish a clear party line.
The December consultation -- in which 120,000 party members took part -- resulted in a 59 percent victory for the "yes" camp, which is supported by most of the top leadership including former ministers Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Martine Aubry and Jack Lang.
But the defeated opponents of the constitution, led by former prime minister Laurent Fabius, have refused to toe the party line and many are publicly campaigning for a "no" vote -- leading to an increasingly vicious climate of internecine hostility.
Last week supporters of Hollande were furious after the party leader was attacked with eggs and snowballs by left-wingers at a demonstration in the central town of Gueret. They accused Fabius of failing to speak out against the attackers.
Emmanuelli earlier stirred up tensions by saying there were "now more Socialists outside the party than inside." Another leading opponent of the constitution Claude Bartolone said the internal divisions were the worst since the debate over nationalisation when the PS came to power in 1981.
Left-wing opponents of the constitutional treaty argue that it will entrench free market economic polices in the 25-member bloc and make it impossible for a radical government of the future to enact alternative measures.
They have been encouraged by the wave of social discontent that last week saw up to a million people protesting against the government of President Jacques Chirac, and by polls showing that the national majority in favour of the constitution -- currently around 60 percent -- is being chipped away.
The constitution is intended to streamline decision-making in the European Union and must be ratified by all 25 member states.
A rejection in so important a country as France would render it a dead letter and raise serious questions about the EU's future.
Finally, a socialist I can like!!!!
Will someone please teach them that violence won't provide an answer if they only use eggs and snowballs. The socialists should use rocks and bricks amongst themselves.
This is like watching a group of old ladies smacking each other with their handbags over who gets the biggest bran muffin.
Mai, oui. Collaboration is a fine French tradition.
The December consultation -- in which 120,000 party members took part -- resulted in a 59 percent victory for the "yes" camp, which is supported by most of the top leadership including former ministers Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Martine Aubry and Jack Lang.
Remember that this was while the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was in force. To the Left Hitler was a good guy, from August 23, 1939 to June 22, 1941.
Those who voted against recognition of the Vichy government were those who put being French ahead of being Socialist.
Agreed; a stopped clock is right at least twice a day, and this is one of those instances.
A socialist I can like, too.
> Finally, a socialist I can like!!!!
And a French one at that.
I thought every Frenchman was in the underground...
I hesitatingly agree.
Even though the main reason this socialist is against the EU is because it makes capitalism dominant therefore "dissing" socialism.
That's what DeGaulle tried to tell them...
The French = collaboration.
One of the most absurd sights in WWII was allowing Charles DeGaulle to be the first to march into Paris in '44, making believe that the "free" French actual has something to do with the liberation of the city.
Ike was a gentleman for giving the the preening DeGaulle permission to do this, but it was a mistake none the less.
They are a lazy, rudderless, feckless, steaming pile of God-less wonders.
Islamfascism will finish them off within 20 years.
We forget sometimes but Chirac's party is the "conservative" one. This is the MILD anti-american center-right government. I really want to see what a center-left french government will be like. heh
Someone needs to tell him to shut up about Vichy and do what Berlin tells him to do.
Can you imagine if a true "leftist" (by French standards) government got in? Gads, they might make Lenin look conservative.
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