THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Nicolas Sarkozy is dangerous for France, warned Dominique de Villepin, the former French prime minister, as the bitter Right-wing rivals competed for Charles de Gaulle's mantle on the 40th anniversary of his death.
With De Gaulle nostalgia in full swing in France, President Sarkozy yesterday seized the commemoration to liken himself to the revered wartime leader who refused to collaborate with the Nazis and was the architect of the country's post-War recovery.
In a thinly-veiled reference to his deeply unpopular pension reforms, which brought millions to the streets in the past few weeks, the President quoted De Gaulle's phrase: "If France has called me to serve as its guide, it is certainly not to preside over its sleep."
But Mr de Villepin, a staunch Gaullist who famously opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, was the most vocal in denying the president's right to claim such a heritage. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Tuesday, November 09, 2010
