US embassy cable - 05PARIS409

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000409 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT ALSO FOR EUR/WE, INR/EUC, AND DRL/IL 
DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2015 
TAGS: EU, FR, PGOV 
SUBJECT: CHIRAC WINS ONE IN HIS BATTLE WITH SARKOZY FOR THE 
LOYALTY OF THE UMP 
 
 
Classified By: Pol/MC Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: President Jacques Chirac has won a 
significant skirmish in his on-going battle with arch-rival 
Nicolas Sarkozy, currently president of the governing Union 
for a Popular Movement (UMP) party.  At a "surprise 
appearance" at a caucus of UMP National Assembly deputies, 
Chirac demanded party unity in support of the proposed EU 
Constitution.  Chirac's power play forced Sarkozy to withdraw 
his proposal for a separate internal UMP vote on Turkey's EU 
candidacy.  Sarkozy's proposal had been widely seen as 
another defiant move in his ongoing challenge of Chirac for 
leadership of the center-right.  Having backed down on 
Turkey, Sarkozy will now preside over a single vote by party 
members on March 6 on the EU constitution.  Party faithful 
are expected to endorse the constitution -- and a strong win 
will help Chirac in his battle with Sarkozy.  In addition, 
Chirac has clearly demonstrated the reserve of support that 
he enjoys among the UMP's most powerful group -- the party's 
senior elected officials.  End Summary 
 
2. (SBU) On January 19 President Chirac made a "surprise 
appearance" at an informal gathering of UMP National Assembly 
deputies.  The venue alone, practically next door to the 
Elysee palace at a private club, shows that considerable 
planning went into arranging the surprise.  Chirac called on 
all UMP members "to engage and mobilize enthusiasm and 
determination in favor of the EU referendum."  This call to 
unity was largely understood as a call to order -- and a 
rebuff to UMP President Sarkozy.  Chirac implicitly rejected 
Sarkozy's call for new UMP party vote on Turkey's EU 
candidacy March 6.  "On Turkey, opinions are divided", Chirac 
said, "I know and respect this fact.  Our strength comes from 
diversity.  But it also comes from our capacity to come 
together and take action when circumstances require it.  I 
know I can count on you."  Chirac's stature, as President of 
the Republic, had its expected effect re-energizing most of 
these UMP legislators' support for him. 
 
3.  (SBU) In the preceding week, Sarkozy had proposed that 
party members vote on two separate resolutions at their next 
party congress on March 6.  Sarkozy's first resolution would 
have been a straight up or down vote on supporting the 
proposed EU Constitution.  Given the strong support for the 
new constitution within the UMP, this resolution was expected 
to pass easily.  Sarkozy's second resolution would have been 
on whether or not it should be the party position to support 
eventual accession of Turkey to the EU.  Most observers 
expected that the party membership would overwhelmingly 
reject Turkey's eventual accession to the EU as they had 
already done last year in a vote organized by then UMP 
President Alain Juppe.  Chirac, in an uncharacteristic gamble 
with public opinion, committed France to supporting opening 
EU accession talks with Turkey. 
 
4.  (SBU) Sarkozy's proposal to submit the Turkey question to 
a vote -- in the party Chirac founded -- was seen as another 
provocative move by Sarkozy in his quest to establish himself 
as the unquestioned leader of the party -- and therefore its 
candidate for the presidency in 2007.  The move was 
transparently a challenge to Chirac because the UMP had 
already voted to oppose Turkish membership under Juppe. 
Sarkozy justified his Turkey resolution as an effort to bring 
more democracy to the party's internal debates by giving 
members a voice on important issues, a practice common in the 
center-left Socialist Party (PS).  Chirac saw Sarkozy's move 
not only as potentially, highly divisive, but also as a 
direct threat to his leadership, and deftly engineered 
turning the tables on Sarkozy through his "call for unity" 
before the party's senior, elected officials. 
 
5. (SBU) The following day, Sarkozy announced he was no 
longer calling for separate resolutions on supporting the EU 
Constitution and on supporting eventual admission of Turkey. 
Rather, Sarkozy, without conceding any defeat, is calling for 
a single resolution, which, given the overarching urgency of 
affirming support for the proposed constitution, largely 
buries any possibility for party members to express their 
disagreement with Chirac's position on Turkey.  A resolution 
affirming the party's support for the proposed constitution 
will also be a resolution in support of Chirac. 
 
6,  (C)  Comment:  Despite Sarkozy's setback, his position on 
Turkey remains that of the overwhelming majority of UMP 
members -- and the French public.  Sarkozy's problem -- 
neatly demonstrated by Chirac's call to order -- is that 
under current party by laws, questions of policy are not 
decided by a vote of the membership or appeals to public 
opinion.  They are made by a coterie of top party leaders, 
many of whom are beholden to Chirac.  End Comment 
Wolff