With opinion polls showing a dismal rating in the eyes of the public, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has chosen to remain at home to examine the impacts of his reforms as Prime Minister Francois Fillon takes the international stage to promote the country's image, reports indicated on Thursday.
Fillon, who in recent days has conducted official visits to Morocco, the United States, Malta and Cyprus and is set to travel to Peru on Friday, has until the recent days concentrated his work on the implementation of government policies on the domestic front, according to the French media.
"The prime minister, who has multiplied his visits abroad, seems to have left the first place on the domestic political scene to Nicolas Sarkozy without much enthusiasm," one political observer was quoted as saying recently.
In Peru, the prime minister is set to replace the head of state during the fifth European Union-Latin America summit, said a French diplomat, noting that Sarkozy had cancelled his trip there at the last minute due to an "overloaded schedule" ahead of the French EU presidency.
However, Sarkozy is scheduled to visit the Paris region, the third time within a period of two weeks, to explain the merger of the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme and the National Agencyfor Employment.
At the prime minister's office, one sees the facet of the "interchangeability" of the two heads of the executive function of the government, said one political analyst, noting that Sarkozy had conceptualized the trend earlier in his mandate.
This phenomenon does not in any way prevent Fillon from performing his duties as both head of government and the majority, according to the analyst.
However, this inversion of roles, which is occurring at a moment when the president is facing a challenge from within his own camp and in the opinion of the public, is raising eyebrows.
"The reversal of popularity ratings tends to reverse the roles," said Denis Barbet, a political scientist. "The major problem facing Nicolas Sarkozy today is not related to his international image, but rather the internal management of the discontent of the French people," said the Lyon-based university professor.
In an attempt to regain a few points in polls where he is still performing dismally compared to his prime minister, Sarkozy has momentarily left the international stage to focus on economic issues and in particular the issue of a faltering purchasing power, which is a major concern for the people, said an observer.
"There is nothing unusual in the fact that Nicolas Sarkozy has taken the lead to explain and to witness first hand the impact of the implementation of the commitments that he took a year ago," government spokesman Luc Chatel told reporters Wednesday.
In a little over one month, Fillon has only visited the countryside once and even the trip, which took him to Dijon to promote his reforms on April 28, was conducted as a shot stopover on his way back from Cyprus.
By July 1, the prime minister is expected to complete his ongoing tour of European capitals by particularly visiting Finland and some Baltic countries to create a consensus on a number of issues ahead of the EU presidency, according to reliable sources.
The French prime minister, who was described as a dependable lieutenant by President Sarkozy during a recent interview, is also scheduled to conduct an official visit to Algiers in June, according to diplomatic sources.
But in a sign that he has not completely left the domestic scene, on Sunday, just hours after his return from Peru, Fillon is set to chair a seminar comprising the entire government team to fix the agenda for the second half of the year, according to a statement from his office.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article