The center-right UMP party — which voters ousted from the French presidency back in the spring — is in shambles. Jean-François Copé and François Fillon both ran to succeed former French president Nicolas Sarkozy as party leader. A party election was held on November 18. Both men claim to have won the election, and there is still no resolution. Rama Yade, a former UMP member and government minister who is now a member of the centrist Radical Party (which is in coalition with the UMP), compares the situation to Sierra Leone's troubled 2010 presidential election. From Setal.net (original article in French): "The Vice-President of the Radical Party noted that 'this is the first time that the UMP has held a democratic election of this nature [to elect its leader]. The exercise was new,' she said."
The moderate politico continues about the disorganized French center-right: "Because of the leadership feud, French political observers are already seeing a migration of UMP activists to parties such as Rama Yade's or Marine Le Pen's [white supremacist National Front]. However, the former Secretary of State for Human Right isn't especially satisfied because France's image takes a terrible blow. 'We hear that what happens to the UMP party benefits our party, or even the National Front. But we can't rejoice in this situation that encourages the French to think they are all rotten,' Rama Yade said on 'Africa Debate'."
Rama Yade Opines About Splintered French Center-Right
