Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Election Update

So just to give you a little general information about the elections lately, here's a quick overview of the candidates and the parties that exist in France  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2012

Now, I'm sure most of you know about our dear friend, Nicolas Sarkozy.  There are so many things that I want to say about him, but I think the best is that he's been spending the past month or so "totally not campaigning."  We'll forget that his government has been taking swipes at his Socialist challenger left and right.  Recently, in fact before his announcement of candidacy this evening, he has already named Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet his campaign head.  She's currently the Minister of Ecology, Durable Development, Transport and Housing.  Here she is on the 10th of February on Bourdin 2012 http://www.bfmtv.com/bourdin-2012-nathalie-kosciusko-morizet-actu23187.html

The most recent discussion has been Sarkozy's article in Le Figaro stating that he will not support Marriage Equality in France because it will lead to opening adoption to gay couples.  We'll forget that there are already gay couples raising children, just like in the US, but we'll digress.  Here's the English translation of the article.  http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/french-president-says-no-to-homosexual-marriage-and-adoption-euthanasia

 Most people see this as him pandering to the extreme right, especially on Marriage Equality here.  Recently there was an article in Libération Mag where it was suggested that Sarkozy may be adding Marriage Equality to his election platform.  Valérie Pécresse, Minister of Higher Education and Research was quick to deny this.  In truth, Sarkozy is doing everything he can to pull as much of the weight away from the far right, Front National, because it will be much more difficult for him to win without more far right support.  Hence he's been pushing on social issues to tie up his loose ends.  He will announce his candidacy tonight.

Most recently Christine Boutin (candidate of the Christian Democratic Union) announced that not only will she suspend her candidacy but furthermore will throw all of her support behind him, making the announcement last night on TF1.  In a nutshell, she believes that gays and lesbians have no right to marry and should never be allowed within 100 yards of children even though she has so many gay friends as she famously said in an interview a while ago.  She's France's answer to Rick Santorum. Here's an interview she did recently after the announcement.   http://www.bfmtv.com/christine-boutin-renonce-a-la-course-a-la-actu23343.html

François Hollande continues his candidacy today saying that Sarkozy's declaration changes nothing.  In essence he says that Sarkozy is a "président de la virevolte."  It's a hard phrase for me to translate, and I'm sure those with more French experience might have a better idea of how.  Literally it's a president of spin, as in literally spinning.  Hollande says that Sarkozy wanted to appear as a dynamic candidate full of change and promise.  During his term, Hollande says he showed himself to be more of the same.  He further states that Sarkozy can create as many new personas as he would like, but his record will be his albatross.

Since I really haven't done much to disguise my slant, I'll also include this article here about recent comments made by a UMP Member in the Nord (North) Region, Christian Vanneste.  Apparently he had an interview with a website where he said quite a few offensive things about gays.  It should also be noted he was the first French Politician to be fined for his comments against homosexuality.  (The charges were later dropped as protected speech, however offensive they may have been.)  http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/02/15/french-mp-gays-must-be-narcissists/

Members of his own party are already calling on him to be kicked out.  As he says in the beginning of the video, the most recent polls show that 63% of French citizens support marriage equality.  One can only hope that the UMP realizes that this divisive language will not help them win elections in the future.

UPDATE: Apparently it's official.  Christian Vanneste will be removed from his post.  http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/02/15/french-ump-expelling-vanneste-over-gay-comments/

12 comments:

  1. Are you permitted to vote in the French elections?

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  2. Firstly, could you vote if you and your partner were Pac ed?
    You should be paid to write posts like this for the ex pats here! Thankyou, I shall refer to my ex pat friends, and we'll just call you the french "andy towle".....and that IS a compliment!
    Have a great weekend!
    tim

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  3. Even a PACS wouldn't give me that right. All the PACS does is give medical Power of Attorney, End of Life decision power, and allow you to be taxed like any other couple. However; it's also still opened to straight couples. It gives no rights to any sort of citizenship or any titre de sejour. It takes some of the worry off for visas in terms of money, but at the same time is a reason for them to refuse, as you would then be more likely to overstay.

    I'm glad to know that my articles are good for something! :-) I'm never sure what people want to see up, so if you really enjoy this, I'll try and stick more to politics for a while. Lord knows it's heating up now. Should Hollande win, I'll probably start explaining the process of getting married under the new rules. If Sarko takes it, well...I guess we'll burn that bridge when we cross it.

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  4. i hope future generations look at us and shake their head in disbelief, wondering how we managed to fuck it up so royally.

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    1. There's no way to really know what the future will hold. We may be looking at Coke presents the European Union someday.

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  5. Love this post. I was just reading about Sarkozy. Funny how when I travel 'home' I catch up on my world news. This year will be a tough election year for us all.

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    1. How do politics work back home for you? What are the parties? I'm hoping the choice this year will be more obvious, but who ever really knows with these things. I'll never understand exactly how politics works.

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  6. Very intresting to read this, alot of the same crap going on. Christine Boutin would drive me nuts! I would love to ask her gay friends HOW they maitain a friendship with her after slaps in the face like those comments. If I knew her, I'd sooooo be doing the old visine in the coffee trick!

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    1. Strangely enough, she like many American politicians have never produced these gay friend who apparently live under rocks; I'm looking at you Rick Santorm and family. It's the same problem we have in the US though. Some gay people don't come out because they're too concerned about how it will seem.

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  7. oh, I may have not read far enough back yet, but do you continue to live in France, or are you guys only staying a short time? Do you miss the us?

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    1. It's really complicated to explain. I am in France on a traveler's visa right now, so there are limitations on it. It's hard to explain exactly how it all works.

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