The spectre of a nightmare

[NormanH]

It looks as if Sarkozy is set to try to be President again despite all the sleaze....And I reckon the French could just be stupid enough to fall for it!

[:-))]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/19/sarkozy-return-politics-france-ump

[woolybanana]

The one thing that mught Mr Hollande popular is a Sarkozy return. Truly a sad day if he does come back.

[mint]

So what's the latest on the supposed term in prison he is to serve?

[idun]

Whilst I was talking to a friend in France the other day, I mentioned what a really terrible disappointment Hollande had turned out to be. They agreed, but said that what could the french do. Sarkozy was so 'rotten' and corrupt that they wanted rid of him and never expected someone so useless to replace him.

All sad, very sad. Could be worse.....Marine could get in...........[:(]

[woolybanana]

Juppe might just be strong enough to beat him but he is 71 already and might split the party. But at least he has done his time.

[suein56]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Juppe might just be strong enough to beat him but he is 71 already and might split the party. But at least he has done his time.[/quote]

No he's only 69 and he sure has done his time, 18 months suspended, I believe.

Quote from Wiki :

La cour d'appel formule quant à elle que :

«  Il est regrettable qu’au moment où le législateur prenait

conscience de la nécessité de mettre fin à des pratiques délictueuses

qui existaient à l’occasion du financement des partis politiques, M.

Juppé n’ait pas appliqué à son propre parti les règles qu’il avait

votées au parlement. Il est également regrettable que M. Juppé, dont les

qualités intellectuelles sont unanimement reconnues, n’ait pas cru

devoir assumer devant la justice l’ensemble de ses responsabilités

pénales et ait maintenu la négation de faits avérés. Toutefois, M. Juppé

s’est consacré pendant de nombreuses années au service de l’État, n’a

tiré aucun enrichissement personnel de ces infractions commises au

bénéfice de l’ensemble des membres de son parti, dont il ne doit pas

être le bouc émissaire.  »

I am not sure there is an honest politician anywhere.

Sue

[woolybanana]

Sorry, the age was shorthand for him being 71 in the year of the presidential election.

I think he did his bird in Canada, a sort of political exile.

[suein56]

... and there are those who say he took the flak for Chirac. He appears to have done a sound job in Bordeaux so who knows what he might be capable of if given a wider role ?

Sue

[Tom 58]

It isn't just that Sarko lost the presidential election, it's a question of to whom he lost.

Hollande has always been an incompetent politician but if there's a second run off between these two it's conceivable that FH might win again.

That would be a true nightmare.

Tom

[NormanH]

I think that the next Election will be between the FN and the UMP. Hollande and the PS will be out in the first round.

[Chancer]

I will be happy to see Sarkozy back in the drivers seat, I thought it a shame that he was denied a second term but it was of his own doing.

Who would you propose could do a better job?

I'm guessing not many will say Francois Hollande [:D]

[Tom 58]

François Fillon would be my choice.

Tom

[idun]

Sarko cost our family a lot of money, he really did. (well a lot to us)

And if we were losing.................Just what was all that alcohol testing thing about? I am surely not wrong in supposing that 'some' made a lot of dosh........... there was something louche about that whole affair! And that was not the only thing that was off IMO.

I don't want him back. I don't want Hollande either and I do not want Madame Le Pen. AND I do not want Delors daughter either!

Who could be President, I really have not got a clue, there is little choice..... just like in the UK and the USA.

[Thibault]

It seems that last time, people voted for Hollande simply because he was not Sarkozy - and look what that led to.....

There must be a competent, non-corrupt French politician somewhere..........mustn't there?

[Chancer]

If they do exist then they are very thin on the ground.

Fillon would get my vote as well.

[idun]

Yes, I suppose Fillon is OK.

Hasn't he got a welsh wife......... maybe she keeps him 'grounded'[Www]

[suein56]

Reading about him on Wiki he doesn't seem to like immigrants much, if at all. He doesn't want us/them to have a vote and he doesn't want us to have access to social security even if we have been here yonks. Interesting.

Though it all depends how accurate the Wiki details are.

Quote :

François Fillon est partisan de réserver l'accès des prestations sociales aux migrants légaux, installés depuis plusieurs années sur le territoire.

From :   Fillon, 35 propositions pour marquer et se démarquer [archive] sur l'Express du 25 juillet 2013

Otherwise he seems squeaky clean.

Sue

[Judith]

[quote user="idun"]Yes, I suppose Fillon is OK.

Hasn't he got a welsh wife......... maybe she keeps him 'grounded'[Www]

[/quote]

Yes, she's Welsh.  Did read that he was not that popular a choice as leader of the UMP, but given the other probable options he seems not a bad choice, but when did the French ever vote sensibly??? ie with head instead of heart????

[Tom 58]

Read that she's the daughter of an English solicitor who practises in Wales. Evidently FF's brother married her sister.

Tom

ps. How do you add a smiley to a post? I can see them but can't get them to move... duh!

[NormanH]

François Bayrou gives the  impression of being Mr Clean, but he is stubborn and doesn't listen to advisors

[EuroTrash]

For my money Sarko would be better than Le Penn and Le Penn would be better than Hollande. Sarko is rotten to the core but then so are most of them, it's just a case of whether they get found out or not, and at least Sarko has balls - he seems to understand economics and how business works, and I think his vision of a successful France, if he gets there, would be palatable to most people, even though getting there will be tough. Le Penn on the other end has plenty of balls but if she achieves her vision for France, heaven help us. Hollande has no balls so it's irrelevant what his vision for France is because he'll never achieve it. But it's a desperate choice and wide open to another outsider posing as a new broom.

[Chancer]

So we need Hollande with Sarkos knowledge of business and economics and the balls of Marie Le Pen then [:D]

I wouldnt recommend he took her liver or lungs though [:P]

[woolybanana]

Well, Sarkozy has chosen as his next campaign head a man who is a former head of police and a very odd guy indeed, perhaps rather threatening. Certainly he will know where all the skeletons are buried and may even unearth a few more.

I wonder if his arrival won't make the charges against Sarko sort of disappear. Strange relationship between French politics and the legal system.

Here it a link. Sorry, I dont seem to have a button to make it live. Could someone please oblige or teach me how:

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/politique/20140915.OBS9223/frederic-pechenard-le-moine-soldat-de-nicolas-sarkozy.html

[NormanH]

http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/politique/20140915.OBS9223/frederic-pechenard-le-moine-soldat-de-nicolas-sarkozy.html

I highlight the link and copy it, then click on the little world icon second from the right above then paste the link into the window that pops up..

[woolybanana]

Thank you, Norman.