FRANCE:François Bayrou, the centrist candidate who received 18.5 per cent of the vote in the first round of the French presidential election, yesterday severely criticised the character of the right-wing candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the economic programme of the socialist, Ségolène Royal.
In a much-awaited press conference, Mr Bayrou said he would give no instructions to the nearly seven million people who voted for him, and announced the foundation of a new party called Le Parti Démocrate (the Democratic Party).
Mr Sarkozy or Ms Royal would aggravate the ills from which France suffers, Mr Bayrou said.
"Nicolas Sarkozy, by his closeness to business circles and media magnates, by his inclination for intimidation and threats, will concentrate power as it never has been before," he predicted. "By his temperament, and the issues he has stoked, he risks deepening the tears in our social fabric, in particular through policies that favour the wealthy."
On Tuesday night, the European Green MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit said in a rally for Ms Royal: "François, you supported (the Italian prime minister Romano) Prodi against (the former right-wing prime minister Silvio) Berlusconi. You must support Ségolène Royal against Sarkozy!"
Mr Bayrou said yesterday that the decision was his, but admitted there were "resemblances" between Messrs Berlusconi and Sarkozy. He implied he would not support Mr Sarkozy under any circumstances, saying: "I don't know what I'll do, but I'm beginning to know what I won't do."
Ms Royal had "better intentions" than Mr Sarkozy, Mr Bayrou continued, "but her programme, by increasing state intervention, perpetuates the illusion that the state should take care of everything, that it can take care of everything, which isn't true. She would create I don't know how many new public services - exactly the opposite of what our country needs."
For example, Mr Bayrou noted, Ms Royal wants to create a ministry responsible for creches for infants, would pay government salaries to hundreds of thousands of youths, and provide deposits for people who want to rent apartments.
"This is a way of turning the French into children," Mr Bayrou said. "I deeply disagree with Ségolène Royal on this approach."
Mr Bayrou said he would be happy to engage in televised debates with both candidates, but he seemed to leave the door more open to Ms Royal. "I don't put them on exactly the same level," he said. "If between now and May 6th (the date of the runoff) things evolve, I will express myself after the debate."
Mr Bayrou repeatedly provoked laughter among hundreds of journalists crowded into a hotel ballroom in central Paris. "At 7.59 pm (one minute before the results of the first round were revealed on Sunday) I was not to be associated with," he said. "At 8 o'clock, I became very seductive to both of them."
On Tuesday night, Ms Royal said she would be willing to make members of Mr Bayrou's party cabinet ministers. Yesterday, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, who is campaigning for her, said the socialists could stand down in some constituencies in the June legislative elections to help Mr Bayrou gain more seats in the National Assembly.
Mr Bayrou swore he would never participate in a government if he did not adhere to the principles upon which it was founded.
There are 29 deputies from the UDF, as Mr Bayrou's party was called until now, in the current National Assembly. But twelve of them have already succumbed to Mr Sarkozy's threat to position UMP candidates against them in June if they refused to support him.
Mr Sarkozy has also said he favours the foundation of a new "centrist" party which would enjoy "autonomy" but be part of the right-wing presidential majority. It would presumably be based on the UDF deputies he is poaching.
Mr Bayrou dismissed Mr Sarkozy's new grouping as "counterfeit" and confirmed that his Democratic Party would put forward candidates in all 577 constituencies.
Mr Bayrou's success on Sunday has added a European dimension to the French election. He noted that his new party is named after the grouping he established in the European Parliament with Italians Francesco Rutelli and Romano Prodi four years ago.
On Sunday, delegates from two of the main parties of Mr Prodi's currently ruling coalition, the formerly communist Democrats of the Left (DS) and the left-wing Christian Democrat Margherita, voted, at separate congresses, to coalesce in a single centre-left party, to be known as the Democratic Party.