Amid bitter leadership row, French conservatives tap Cop茅
| Paris
An internal committee investigating the contentious Nov. 18 election for leadership of France's right-wing opposition UMP party has declared a winner, but the struggle between two prominent French conservatives over the UMP's top spot looks set to continue, likely in court.
The party's internal investigation began last week after initial results showed Jean-Fran莽ois Cop茅 with only a 98-vote victory over Fran莽ois Fillon. Today, the committee declared Mr. Cop茅 the UMP's new leader. But while Cop茅 called for the party to choose "forgiveness instead of division," Mr. Fillon rejected the recount as "illegal."
Fillon was prime minister during former President Nicolas Sarkozy鈥檚 tenure and is considered more moderate than Cop茅, the current party leader who held a position equivalent to a US House majority leader until June, when the Socialist party and its allies won France's parliamentary elections.
What started as a neck-and-neck election eight days ago between Cop茅 and Fillon has quickly escalated into a public political war to succeed President Sarkozy as right-wing leader, with both men fiercely criticizing each other and accusing one another of cheating.
Both Fillon and Cop茅 claimed victory in the election on Nov. 18. But the next day, a UMP commission tasked with overseeing the election declared Cop茅 the winner by a mere 98 votes, and the tension between the two sides has grown steadily since.
On Wednesday, Fillon鈥檚 camp said that votes from three overseas territories hadn鈥檛 been counted and claimed that adding them to the vote tally would mean victory for Fillon. In today's announcement, the investigating committee put Cop茅 ahead by 952 votes after the recount.
An inheritance from Sarkozy?
St茅phane Roz猫s, a political analyst and the president of Cap, a communications consulting company, says the turmoil within the UMP stems in part from the void left by Mr. Sarkozy after he lost this year鈥檚 presidential election to Fran莽ois Hollande.
鈥淣icolas Sarkozy didn鈥檛 leave anything that could allow the right wing to structure itself around a body of doctrine, because everything was organized around his person,鈥� Mr. Roz猫s says. 鈥淭he only thing that remained is a radicalization of the UMP that took [the party] further away from right-wing sympathizers.鈥�
An editorial in the weekend edition of France鈥檚 most prestigious newspaper Le Monde argued that Sarkozy was to blame for the current crisis because he took the party too far to the right during the last presidential campaign. At the same time, Le Monde wrote, the UMP has not been able to move on since Sarkozy left power, nor has it engaged in any kind of soul-searching.
鈥淣icolas Sarkozy is not the big winner of this fratricidal war,鈥� the editorial read. 鈥淗e is the cause of it.鈥�
Trading barbs
Regardless of the cause, the debate over the election has led to a toxic atmosphere within the party, with Fillon and Cop茅 trading barbs publicly.
"The behavior of Fran莽ois Fillon, it鈥檚 the story of an inelegant loser who now comes to give lessons of morality without applying them to himself,鈥� Cop茅 told Europe 1 radio on Thursday.
The following day, Fillon had a few words for Cop茅. 鈥淚 measure all the damages from this crisis, but at the same I want to say that a political party is not a mafia,鈥� Fillon told RTL radio. 鈥淎 political party, it鈥檚 not a place where you can bury cases, refuse to tell the truth.鈥�
On Sunday morning, Fillon鈥檚 team refused to recognize the UMP commission examining allegations of fraud as legitimate. In the evening, mediation between Cop茅 and Fillon by former French Prime Minister Alain Jupp茅, who is considered the party鈥檚 moral gatekeeper, proved unsuccessful. The mediation attempt appeared to be a last resort and its failure was met by angry reactions on both sides.
Fillon took to Twitter after the meeting to blame Cop茅 for the failed talks and announced he would go to court. He tweeted, 鈥淚 will go to court to restore the truth of the results and give the party base its voice back.鈥�
Agence France-Presse, relying on anonymous sources, reported that Sarkozy advised Fillon not to go to court when the two met for lunch on Monday. Sarkozy also said it would be better that a new election be held, according to Agence France-Presse.
