FRANCE: French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy suffered a small humiliation yesterday when he was forced to cancel a two-day trip to the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe because of outrage over his vocabulary and a law passed by his UMP party recognising the "positive role" of French colonialism.
Aimé Césaire, the 92-year-old poet who was for many years the mayor of Fort-de-France, started the protest by refusing to receive Mr Sarkozy. It is customary for all important visitors to Martinique to meet Mr Césaire.
With the late Léopold Senghor, Mr Césaire founded the literary school known as la négritude. He issued a statement saying he did not want "to appear to support the spirit and the letter of the law of 23rd February". Last week, the UMP, over which Mr Sarkozy presides, prevented the socialists abrogating article 4, which emphasises "the positive role of the French presence overseas".
"As the author of the Discourse on Colonialism, I remain faithful to my resolute anti-colonialist doctrine," Mr Césaire said.
Two other prominent French West Indian writers, Édouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau, published a full-page open letter to Mr Sarkozy in the communist newspaper L'Humanité, saying they regretted "that France is attempting to hide its responsibilities in an undertaking (colonialism) which was totally to its advantage and which merits only condemnation".
Elected officials, associations and trade unions on the islands formed a "Group Against the Shameful Law of 23 February" to organise street protests and interrupt Mr Sarkozy's speeches with hooting horns. The demonstrations were to go ahead last night despite the absence of Mr Sarkozy.
The group also objects to Mr Sarkozy's use of the words kärcher - a high-pressure hose with which the minister promised to "clean" the immigrant suburbs and racaille (scum or rabble) to describe delinquents from the banlieues. "When the minister uses these words, we feel targeted, because he is talking about our brothers and sisters who live in the banlieues," said Garcin Malsa, the mayor of Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe.
Mr Sarkozy announced his decision to postpone the trip "for several weeks" in an interview with France-Antilles newspaper. He attributed hostility to his visit to "misunderstandings linked to article 4 of the Law of 23rd February 2005" and said it was "possible to remove the ambiguities of the law". He invited West Indian officials to call on him in Paris to explain their "emotion" and proposed that slavery be commemorated every May 10th.
In a further setback for Mr Sarkozy, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin - his rival for the right-wing presidential nomination in 2007 - received a 53 per cent approval rating in a poll to be published by Paris Match today. Mr de Villepin came in second (after Dr Bernard Kouchner) in the list of France's favourite politicians; Mr Sarkozy ranks 8th.
The two rivals arrived arm-in-arm at a meeting of the UMP political bureau on Tuesday night, held to determine how the party will chose its presidential candidate. Mr Sarkozy favoured an "investiture" by party members following a primary similar to those in the US. This was opposed by the Chirac-de Villepin camp, who saw it as a ploy to ensure Mr Sarkozy's presence in the run-off.
The UMP agreed on a compromise under which the party will vote its "support" (but not "investiture") for a single candidate, who will have the party's treasury at his disposal. As he left the meeting, Mr de Villepin announced: "I am here as the head of the government and of the majority" - a way of reminding Mr Sarkozy that he is only number two in the cabinet.