François
Fillon attacks 'Paris elite' before second-round primary
Conservative
who is favourite to win on Sunday dismisses ‘tiny microcosm who
think they know everything’
Angelique Chrisafis
in Paris
Friday 25 November
2016 16.11 GMT
François Fillon,
the former French prime minister promising to introduce “electric
shock” economic reform, has rounded off his campaign for the
right’s presidential nomination by lashing out at what he called
the small-minded liberal Paris elite who warned he was a dangerous
social reactionary.
The socially
conservative, rightwing Fillon – who remains favourite to beat the
more moderate, centrist Alain Juppé in the final vote on Sunday –
has complained of being depicted as a “medieval” retrograde. His
campaign emphasised his Catholic family values in order to appeal to
supporters on the religious right who oppose same-sex marriage and
adoption rights introduced in France three years ago.
Pierre Bergé, the
French businessman and partner of the late fashion designer Yves
Saint Laurent, tweeted that a vote for Fillon was a vote for
“reactionary France”, likening it to a return to the days of the
Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime. In a radio interview, Fillon
slammed Bergé’s comments as “the ridiculous frenzy of a tiny
microcosm who think they know everything and want to impose their
vision”.
Although Fillon has
vowed not to overturn the 2013 law introducing same-sex marriage, nor
make any change to abortion law, he has promised to roll back certain
parental rights for same-sex couples.
Fillon, an admirer
of Margaret Thatcher, has promised to slash 500,000 public sector
jobs in five years, cut public spending, lower taxes and break the
power of trade unions. He is regarded as having won the final TV
debate on Thursday night against Juppé, which attracted a record
audience of 8.5 million viewers.
Both candidates are
former rightwing prime ministers who share a broadly similar economic
programme to cut public spending and trim France’s large social
welfare model. But they differ on scale. Fillon said reform must be
quick and decisive. Juppé said structural reform needed to be done
gently, accusing Fillon of going too far in a brutal, punishing
manner.
Fillon has raised
the question of identity politics, stressing that French national
identity must be protected. “France is not a multicultural nation,”
he said during the debate, adding that foreigners who came to France
must assimilate. Juppé replied that he thought France’s identity
came from its diversity.
The often heated
final-round campaign between the two has also centred on foreign
policy.
In a jibe at
Fillon’s closeness to Vladimir Putin, Juppé said: “This must be
the first presidential election in which the Russian president
chooses his candidate – that slightly shocked me.” This week
Putin praised Fillon as a “great professional” and “very
principled person”.
Fillon, who is on
first-name terms with Putin after they served as prime ministers in
the same period, has advocated a stridently positive policy towards
Russia, saying it is no threat, should be a partner in Syria and that
European sanctions against Russia should be lifted.
“We need to be
much firmer and clearer with Russia,” Juppé told the Ouest France
newspaper in an interview this week, accusing his opponent of
“over-indulging” Putin. Fillon said this was a caricature of his
position and he simply wanted a more constructive relationship with
Moscow.
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If Fillon does win
the right’s nomination, he is expected to face the far-right Front
National’s Marine le Pen in the presidential final round. Le Pen
has also shown a pro-Russia stance, condemning western sanctions
against Moscow.
Fillon and Juppé
have also clashed on Syria, with the former saying the fight against
Islamic State meant France should not rule out cooperating with
Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. During the TV debate, Juppé
condemned Assad for the brutal repression of Syrians and said he
“could in no case be seen to embody the future of the country”.
This Sunday’s
final-round open primary vote to choose the right’s candidate marks
the start of a new phase in the runup to France’s presidential
election in April and May.
The spotlight will
now fall on the French left. The deeply unpopular Socialist
president, François Hollande, has yet to announce whether he will
stand for re-election. His party is deeply divided and there are
serious doubts among Socialists about Hollande’s chances of making
it past the first round. His satisfaction rating in one poll was as
low as 4%.
However, an Hollande
bid for a second term seemed to edge closer this week after a slight
fall in the number of unemployed people in October. Hollande has said
he would only stand again if he could make a credible reduction in
unemployment by the end of his mandate. France has been struggling
with mass unemployment for decades. Hollande said the figures showed
his economic policy was beginning to pay off.
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