French ‘No’ camp aims to consolidate lead
By John Thornhill in Paris
FT
May 22 2005 16:12
The No camp in France’s referendum on Europe’s constitutional treaty
stepped up its campaign over the weekend targeting every shade of
the political spectrum in an attempt to consolidate its lead in the
opinion polls.
The latest poll, published on Sunday by the Ifop institute, showed
52 per cent of people who have decided how to vote oppose the treaty.
But the outcome of the vote on May 29 is still up in the air and much
will depend on the final week of campaigning.
At a rally of 5,000 supporters in Paris on Saturday, Philippe de
Villiers, the leader of the nationalist Movement for France, said
that the adoption of the constitution would strip Europe’s nations
of their sovereignty and transfer too much power to Brussels. “To
have 450m people run by 18 technocrats is a totalitarian idea from
the last century,” he said.
Mr de Villiers, who has been one of the most energetic No campaigners
drawing support from conservative Catholic, Gaullist and sovereigntist
traditions, said that France had a “special mission” in the world,
thanks to its historical, geographic, and linguistic links, which
should never be abandoned.
“It is impossible to imagine Europe without France. But France is
also an extra-European power, a world power,” he said to wild applause.
Flanked by anti-constitution MEPs from several European countries,
including the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland, Mr de Villiers said he
believed in a Europe of “free peoples.” “Ours is a No of the people,
not of the elite,” he said, explaining that it reflected France’s
gut rather than its brains.
Mr de Villiers stoked the audience’s evident antipathy towards
President Jacques Chirac and his unpopular government, led by prime
minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Every mention of the two politicians’
names was met with boos. But the audience roared with laughter when
an artfully edited video was shown contrasting some of Mr Chirac’s
old speeches denouncing the “Brussels bureaucracy” with a more recent
interview in which he stated he had always been a convinced European.
Mr de Villiers said one of the most positive consequences of rejecting
the treaty would be that it would help block Turkey’s entry into
the EU. He attacked Ankara for failing to acknowledge its role in
the Armenian genocide of 1915 and summoned a flag-waving Armenian
representative on to the stage. “The people who say there is no link
between Turkey and the constitution are liars,” Mr de Villiers said.
On the other side of Paris, a slightly smaller number of leftwing
opponents of the treaty gathered at Place de la Republique, where
they heard speeches from communist and socialist politicians as well
as anti-globalisation and environmental campaigners.
“To vote for this constitution is to shoot yourself in the head, to
renounce your citizenship,” said Jose Bove, the anti-globalisation
protester. “This constitution is going to lock up Europe in an
economically liberal model for 50 years.”
France’s extreme right parties have also been conducting an active,
but largely subterranean, campaign against the European constitution.
But on Saturday morning, a cavalcade of white vans plastered with
stickers for France’s National Front circled Paris’s ringroad before
congregating at a rally in the centre of the city. Campaigners
handed out leaflets condemning the loss of French jobs to lower cost
countries abroad.
The Yes campaign appears to have been startled by the strength of
this grassroots movement against the constitution. But government
ministers and pro-constitution campaigners are planning a series of
high-profile events this week to try to recover momentum. They are
also hoping that a forthcoming blizzard of appeals on the radio and
television will help swing voters their way.