International   

Sarkozy threat seen as mere grandstanding

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to walk out of the G20 summit and said on Wednesday he would not accept a compromise at the London summit if the final communiqué did not come up to his expectations, and especially if it failed to call for stricter regulation on tax havens.

On Tuesday he told aides: If things don't advance in London, there will be an empty chair. I'll get up and leave. And though Mr. Sarkozy did not explicitly repeat this threat on Wednesday he quite bluntly said he wouldnot agree to an unpalatable compromise.

Mr. Sarkozy said the draft of the final communiqué as it was circulating did not meet the expectations of either France or Germany. Though discussions were going forward, no joint position of the participating countries had been established. As things stand at the moment, these projects do not suit France or Germany, said Mr. Sarkozy.

The French President's threats were brushed aside by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during a joint press conference with U.S. President Barack Obama. I am sure President Sarkozy will be with us not just for the meetings but also this evening for dinner, said Mr. Brown. The analysis among diplomatic circles is that Mr. Sarkozy is engaging in typical political grandstanding for the benefit of his people back home in France and that he has no real intention of disrupting the summit.

In a radio interview on Wednesday morning the French leader baldly stated:I will not associate myself with a summit that would end with a communiqué made of false compromises that would not tackle the issues that concern us. Regulation is at the heart of the debate that we are going to be holding during these hours.

Mr. Sarkozy was, of course, speaking with his eyes fully riveted on French public opinion. His popularity has fallen sharply with almost 60 per cent of the people saying he is not doing enough to save jobs and pull the country out of recession.

Over the past 10 days, there has been a surge in public opinion against bonuses, stock options and other benefits given to top industry bosses and workers have held company directors prisoner in their offices to protest factory closures, redundancies and what they consider to be very low severance pay.

Twice this year, France has been crippled by general strikes that have brought millions of people into the street and another massive demonstration is planned for Labour Day on May 1.

Mr. Sarkozy said any walkout would be an admission that the meeting had failed to produce an agreement; but he said he was hopeful that a deal could be reached. The empty chair policy would mark a failure, which would be that of the summit, said he. I do not want to think that we will come to that. I had Angela Merkel on the telephone again late last night. We are on exactly the same wavelength. We have and we will carry a European view on values which are those of Europe.

The two countries have been pressing for more action against tax havens, insisting that countries should be named and shamed if they failed to bow to pressure on ending bank secrecy but he said agreement still appeared some way off.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sarkozy threat seen as mere grandstanding
Charles Anthony reported injured
U.S., Russia to reduce N-arsenal
China a great power: Obama
Netanyahu takes office in Israel

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu