With their election demise imminent, desperate French conservatives embrace xenophobia

[marmar]

By Devorah Lauter in Paris
4:21PM GMT 05 Feb 2012


In a Saturday speech to a group of right-leaning French students at the National Assembly, interior minister Claude Guéant caused a political uproar for saying that, “contrary to what the left’s relativist ideology says, for us, all civilisations are not of the same value”.

“Those which defend liberty, equality and fraternity, seem to us superior to those who accept tyranny, the subservience of women, social and ethnic hatred,” he added in his speech, a copy of which was provided to the French press agency, AFP.

Joining a general outcry on the French left, former presidential candidate and socialist, Ségolène Royal called the minister’s comments, “obscurantist and dangerous,” on France 3 television on Sunday.

The Movement for young socialists (MJS) condemned the speech as “xenophobic” and a sign of “cultural racism,” in a statement, while others claimed the minister was baiting extremist right-wing, National Front party voters ahead of the spring presidential election. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9062473/French-interior-minister-claims-some-civilisations-superior.html

[pampango]

1. Another case of their Conservative party going after the far-right xenophobe voters.

Their presidential election is fast approaching. Only the top two finishers advance to the final round and Sarkozy is having a hard time hanging on to second place with the far-right National Front candidate (Marine Le Pen) breathing down his neck.