A SENIOR French government minister has provoked a storm of protest from the opposition for saying some civilisations are more advanced than others.
“Contrary to the left’s relativist ideology, for us all civilisations are not of equal value,” Claude Guéant told a meeting of a right-wing student association linked to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party.
“Those which defend humanity seem to us to be more advanced than those that do not.” Coming three months before the presidential election, Mr Guéant’s remarks were seen as a gesture towards “soft” National Front voters whose support was critical to Mr Sarkozy’s success in 2007 but who have grown disillusioned with his government.
“Those [civilisations] which defend liberty, equality and fraternity seem to us superior to those which accept tyranny, the subservience of women, social and ethnic hatred,” he said in a speech delivered behind closed doors but subsequently circulated to media.
He stressed the need to “protect our civilisation”.
Mr Guéant’s comments were greeted angrily by the opposition. Harlem Désir, deputy secretary general of the Socialist Party, criticised what he described as “pitiful provocation from a minister reduced to a mouthpiece for the National Front”. He said the UMP was in “electoral and moral decline”.
Several ministers endorsed Mr Guéant’s remarks, however, with transport minister Thierry Mariani saying he “agreed 100 per cent” with the comments.
Mr Guéant has previously said an increase in the number of Muslims in France posed a “problem” and took a tough line against Muslims praying on the streets in major cities. In a departure from previous policy, he said he wanted to reduce the number of legal immigrants entering the country.
The latest opinion polls give National Front leader Marine Le Pen 17-20 per cent support, just a few percentage points in second place behind Mr Sarkozy.