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French President Sarkozy pursues crackdown as ministers dissent
The demolition of illegal camps and repatriation of Roma has drawn fire from the left-wing opposition, members of the Catholic Church and rights groups including the United Nations human rights body.
Meeting with five police officers injured in the course of duty, Sarkozy pledged to press ahead with the remaining parts of his security package, including the revocation of French nationality for immigrants convicted of attacks on police. “The president ... expressed his unshakeable commitment to implementing these proposals in the coming weeks,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement after the meeting.
Critics have denounced Sarkozy's clampdown -- which polls suggest may be popular with conservative voters -- as a ploy to boost his flagging popularity before elections in 2012 and divert attention from unpopular plans to raise the retirement age and cut public spending. With a cabinet reshuffle looming in October as Sarkozy eyes elections in 2012, several ministers have distanced themselves from the president.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon, whose own popularity runs far ahead of Sarkozy's according to opinion polls, said he regretted the way the crime clampdown had been handled. “There were from my camp during the summer a certain number of proposals which I did not accept,” Fillon told France Inter radio on Monday, criticizing government colleagues including Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux for overstepping the mark.
France has expelled more than 8,300 Roma this year in what it calls voluntary repatriations, but rights groups have branded forced expulsions. Those who agree to leave receive 300 euros and an additional 100 euros for each of their children.
Fillon's remarks came a day after Defense Minister Herve Morin said that it was wrong to equate immigration with crime. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, tipped to be dropped in the reshuffle, said he had considered resigning over the crackdown.
With hundreds of thousands of French expected to take to the streets on Saturday in protests against the security measures and again on Tuesday during a strike over pension reform, the Socialist opposition says Sarkozy faces a revolt. “We are facing an institutional crisis,” said Socialist politician Segolene Royal, who lost the 2007 presidential contest to Sarkozy.
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