French Presidential Election

[militant atheist]

Bayrou now level with Royal Has this guy got momentum here or what?! Who is he anyway, some kind of aristocratic liberal or something?

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/15012

 

[guinnessdrinker]

Bayrou now level with Royal Has this guy got momentum here or what?! Who is he anyway, some kind of aristocratic liberal or something?

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/15012

and level with sarkozy, too. I have to say I never heard of this guy until a few months ago. I'd imagine he is centre right, he just claims that he wants to change (of course ) france from the politics of the last twenty five years (read: since Mitterand came to power, succeeded by chirac). he does not mention who was there before..... (Giscard D'estaing). who is all right by his standards, I suppose? he is not aristocratic but of rural catholic origin (and not a national catholic a la De Villiers). they call him a farmer (well, a horse breeder, presumably not for food, french horsemeat is, I believe, imported from abroad, that is if you can find it) and into writing historical biographies. I suppose one must have hobbies). and I forgot, a former latin teacher, in other words a weirdo. apparently, polls are saying that if he is in the second round, he would beat either Sarkozy (good) or Royal (bad). but in any case, he can't govern properly unless he is able to assemble a parliamentary majority behind him in the June Elections. so look forward to coalition governements.

I still haven't got a clue what his programme is for governing, but Sarkozy as a result feels threatened and wants to eat into de Le Pen vote. he wants to create a department of immigration and National Identity

 

[nino_savatte]

I still haven't got a clue what his programme is for governing, but Sarkozy as a result feels threatened and wants to eat into de Le Pen vote. he wants to create a department of immigration and National Identity

He's a slimy cunt. Has he worked out a form for this "national identity" yet? Or will he just base it all on myths that he found lying around (as they all do)?

 

[guinnessdrinker]

He's a slimy cunt. Has he worked out a form for this "national identity" yet? Or will he just base it all on myths that he found lying around (as they all do)?

probably not. it sound just it is like it his latest sound bite.

 

[nino_savatte]

probably not. it sound just it is like it his latest sound bite.

It's what they (in the US and UK particularly) call a "dog whistle" policy.

 

[Fisher_Gate]

http://macuaid.blogspot.com/2007/03/french-presidential-elections.html

 

[guinnessdrinker]

http://macuaid.blogspot.com/2007/03/french-presidential-elections.html

according to french news, it looks like Besancenot still needs another 18 mayoral signatures to get the necessary 500s by friday which is the last day to get them in.

 

[kyser_soze]

You know it's at times like this (and in 08 when the Yanks go the polls) that I'm actually glad we have a powerless, figurehead of a monarch who inherited the job rather than another chance to gaze upon the unedifying site of a bunch of chancers stripping naked and dancing like bears before a massively disinterested French public, none of them have any actual new ideas about how to sort France's problems out (be they the crisis in national identity to the economy).

Fucking useless bunch. It's not surprise Le Pen always gets a vote...

he wants to create a department of immigration and National Identity

So what? The French government already has departments for ensuring X % of media output is French based and has a department specifically set up to 'protect the language from creeping anglicisation' - the French are very much at home with ideas about the national character that they aren't afraid to say 'This is what it means to be French' without tying themselves in the knots we do...not saying that's any better (I think in a lot of ways it's much worse) but it would be consistent with French poltical thinking...

 

[guinnessdrinker]

So what? The French government already has departments for ensuring X % of media output is French based and has a department specifically set up to 'protect the language from creeping anglicisation' - the French are very much at home with ideas about the national character that they aren't afraid to say 'This is what it means to be French' without tying themselves in the knots we do...not saying that's any better (I think in a lot of ways it's much worse) but it would be consistent with French poltical thinking...

I don't think you quite got the idea about this proposed department. think pandering to the BNP instead of rambling on about the fear of anglicisation.

 

[Fisher_Gate]

according to french news, it looks like Besancenot still needs another 18 mayoral signatures to get the necessary 500s by friday which is the last day to get them in.

Besancenot made it comfortably despite enormous Socialist Party efforts to keep him off the ballot paper. Laguiller is also in, but Bove is apparently struggling to make the numbers.

http://macuaid.blogspot.com/2007/03/olivier-besancenot-on-ballot-paper.html

 

[Fisher_Gate]

PRESS STATEMENT FROM LCR -15 March.
Olivier Besancenot sera candidat à l'élection présidentielle. La LCR a recueilli 530 parrainages, lui permettant ainsi de participer à cette campagne électorale. Pour la LCR c'est une fierté d'avoir réussi à vaincre tous les obstacles. Olivier Besancenot remercie chaleureusement les maires qui ont fait le geste démocratique pour qu'il puisse être le candidat de la LCR. Il pourra ainsi défendre les mesures d'urgence sociale indispensables pour changer la situation de millions de salariés, de tous ceux qui souffrent de la très inégale répartition des richesses. Il remercie chaleureusement les militants qui, pendant plusieurs mois, ont parcouru des milliers de kilomètres, rencontré plus de 17 000 maires pour recueillir ces 530 parrainages. Olivier Besancenot se rendra, vendredi 16 mars, à 16h30, pour déposer au Conseil constitutionnel le dernier lot de parrainages en sa possession.
__._,_.___

 

[nino_savatte]

I don't think you quite got the idea about this proposed department. think pandering to the BNP instead of rambling on about the fear of anglicisation.

I heard an interview with Le Pen on the Today programme on R4 this morning and he claimed that Sarkozy was "stealing his ideas". Which doesn't come as a surprise given his thoughts on this new department he wants to create.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

Besancenot made it comfortably despite enormous Socialist Party efforts to keep him off the ballot paper. Laguiller is also in, but Bove is apparently struggling to make the numbers.

http://macuaid.blogspot.com/2007/03/olivier-besancenot-on-ballot-paper.html

dominique voynet is also in. apparently, there are about 10 candidates in. all the signatures should have been handed in today at 6.30pm french time. the candidates that have been confirmed will be known on monday. yesterday, bove had 40 missing signatures.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

I heard an interview with Le Pen on the Today programme on R4 this morning and he claimed that Sarkozy was "stealing his ideas". Which doesn't come as a surprise given his thoughts on this new department he wants to create.

it's called the "lepenisation des esprits", something which he is proud of.

 

[Fisher_Gate]

PRESS STATEMENT FROM LCR -15 March.
Olivier Besancenot sera candidat à l'élection présidentielle. La LCR a recueilli 530 parrainages, lui permettant ainsi de participer à cette campagne électorale. Pour la LCR c'est une fierté d'avoir réussi à vaincre tous les obstacles. Olivier Besancenot remercie chaleureusement les maires qui ont fait le geste démocratique pour qu'il puisse être le candidat de la LCR. Il pourra ainsi défendre les mesures d'urgence sociale indispensables pour changer la situation de millions de salariés, de tous ceux qui souffrent de la très inégale répartition des richesses. Il remercie chaleureusement les militants qui, pendant plusieurs mois, ont parcouru des milliers de kilomètres, rencontré plus de 17 000 maires pour recueillir ces 530 parrainages. Olivier Besancenot se rendra, vendredi 16 mars, à 16h30, pour déposer au Conseil constitutionnel le dernier lot de parrainages en sa possession.
__._,_.___

Translation:

PRESS STATEMENT FROM LCR - 15 March.


Olivier Besancenot will be a candidate in the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday 22nd April. The LCR has received 530 signatures. The LCR is very proud to have overcome all the obstacles. Olivier Besencenot warmly thanks the mayors who have made the democratic gesture necessary for him to be the LCR candidate. He will thus be able to put forward the emergency social measures needed to change the situation of millions of wage-earners, and of all those who suffer from the unequal division of wealth.
He thanks very warmly all the comrades who during the last few months have travelled thousands of kilometres and met more than 17,000 mayors in order to gather these 530 signatures. Olivier Besancent will deposit the last set of signatures at the Constitutional Council at 4.30pm on Friday 16th March.

 

[tim]

Bayrou now level with Royal Has this guy got momentum here or what?! Who is he anyway, some kind of aristocratic liberal or something?

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/15012

He is the Che Guevara of the Extreme-Centre, according to some of his opponents

 

[guinnessdrinker]

He is the Che Guevara of the Extreme-Centre, according to some of his opponents

you read too many newspapers.

 

[mears]

The lady in red is pretty good looking, so she is good for at least something...

You got to like Sarkozy however. He seems to understand the Frech malaise like high unemployment, especially among the young and minorities. Sarkozy knows the unions who protect the six weeks vacations, 35 hour work weeks and contributing government pension schemes are really doing a disservice to the French people.

I look forward to the day when George W. Bush with have Mr. Sarkozy for a State Dinner at the White House.

 

[Fisher_Gate]

We have to wait until Monday to know if Bove is a candidate, as he's dependent on nominations from the overseas territories. He may not make it.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

I look forward to the day when George W. Bush with have Mr. Sarkozy for a State Dinner at the White House.

I am looking forward to the day Sarkozy gets buried, preferably with george Bush.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

We have to wait until Monday to know if Bove is a candidate, as he's dependent on nominations from the overseas territories. He may not make it.

the nominations had to have been handed in by friday evening. there is the internet these days, candidates do not have to rely on great ships or the Aeropostale. but unfortunately, he may not have made it.

 

[mears]

I am looking forward to the day Sarkozy gets buried, preferably with george Bush.

What do you have against Sarkozy?

 

[Fisher_Gate]

the nominations had to have been handed in by friday evening. there is the internet these days, candidates do not have to rely on great ships or the Aeropostale. but unfortunately, he may not have made it.

New Caledonia is in a different time zone I believe and Bove was seeking nominations from there. Latest reports are that he has 504 nominations but has to wait until Monday for them to be confirmed as valid as 4 or 5 are a bit suspect. I think his decision to stand, demand the withdrawal of the other left candidates, withdraw, then stand again, has not helped his case.

This article explains (in English) the position of the LCR on the issue of presidential nominations including Bove's campaign.
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1221

 

[nino_savatte]

What do you have against Sarkozy?

I'd have thought that was obvious but then you would give your wholehearted support to any free-market capitalist who promises you the earth.

It is clear that you can only view France through the prism of US hyper-capitalism and the benefits it has brought you through the exploitation of others. France is not the US...thank fuck.

 

[kyser_soze]

Seeing the words #Sarkozy' and 'capitalist' in the same sentence is an insult to capitalists - Sarko, like his ex-mentor Jacque LeCrook, is an opportunist who blows which way the current winds of change go - nothing wrong with that of course, but 'capitalist' denotes a degree of commitment to a certain creed, whereas all that Sarko wants to do is slightly loosen some of the rules governing French business.

But I didn't read about José 'I spit on MacDonalds' Bové was running too...that would be a funny, if economincally disasterous, choice for France to make...

 

[Fisher_Gate]

New Caledonia is in a different time zone I believe and Bove was seeking nominations from there. Latest reports are that he has 504 nominations but has to wait until Monday for them to be confirmed as valid as 4 or 5 are a bit suspect. I think his decision to stand, demand the withdrawal of the other left candidates, withdraw, then stand again, has not helped his case.

This article explains (in English) the position of the LCR on the issue of presidential nominations including Bove's campaign.
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1221

Bove managed to make it - though the number of valid nominations haven't been revealed. So there are 12 candidates ... seven ostensibly on the left - SP, Greens, PCF, LCR, LO, PT, Bove ... madness.

François Bayrou (UDF).
José Bové (Altermondialiste).
Marie-George Buffet (PCF).
Olivier Besancenot (LCR).
Arlette Laguiller (LO).
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN).
Frédéric Nihous (CPNT).
Ségolène Royal (PS).
Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP).
Gérard Schivardi (PT).
Philippe de Villiers (MPF).
Dominique Voynet (Les Verts).

 

[guinnessdrinker]

What do you have against Sarkozy?

everything. he knows very well what a department for immigration and national identity means in the french context.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

Seeing the words #Sarkozy' and 'capitalist' in the same sentence is an insult to capitalists - Sarko, like his ex-mentor Jacque LeCrook, is an opportunist who blows which way the current winds of change go - nothing wrong with that of course, but 'capitalist' denotes a degree of commitment to a certain creed, whereas all that Sarko wants to do is slightly loosen some of the rules governing French business.

But I didn't read about José 'I spit on MacDonalds' Bové was running too...that would be a funny, if economincally disasterous, choice for France to make...

Jacquot is not a fan of Sarkozy. they are said to hate each other, in fact.

yes Jose Bove is running for the presidency. say whatever you want about him, but at least he was prepared to spend time in prison for his ideas.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

New Caledonia is in a different time zone I believe and Bove was seeking nominations from there. Latest reports are that he has 504 nominations but has to wait until Monday for them to be confirmed as valid as 4 or 5 are a bit suspect. I think his decision to stand, demand the withdrawal of the other left candidates, withdraw, then stand again, has not helped his case.

This article explains (in English) the position of the LCR on the issue of presidential nominations including Bove's campaign.
http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1221

I am fully aware of where New Caledonia is situated but it does not make my point about the internet less valid. but he has made it so further discussion on this point is academic.

 

[nino_savatte]

Seeing the words #Sarkozy' and 'capitalist' in the same sentence is an insult to capitalists - Sarko, like his ex-mentor Jacque LeCrook, is an opportunist who blows which way the current winds of change go - nothing wrong with that of course, but 'capitalist' denotes a degree of commitment to a certain creed, whereas all that Sarko wants to do is slightly loosen some of the rules governing French business.

But I didn't read about José 'I spit on MacDonalds' Bové was running too...that would be a funny, if economincally disasterous, choice for France to make...

How so? Sarko is a capitalist and, more importantly, he wants to Americanise France. I wouldn't describe Sarko as a "socialist".