Posted on 05/26/2005 4:51:08 PM PDT by quidnunc
I think the French have contracted with Mayor Daley.
A little spray paint will fix that
Even as M Chirac prepared to deliver his appeal last night the recriminations within his centre-right UMP party had begun, and he was said by colleagues to have accepted that he had bungled by calling a referendum.
A "no" vote would leave M Chirac seriously weakened. His rival Nicolas Sarkozy, the UMP leader who aspires to become president in 2007, was blaming the Chirac Government's policies for fuelling the voter rebellion. M Chirac is expected to react to a French "non" by promising to listen to the people before making a second attempt at ratification.
He and other "yes" campaigners have said repeatedly during the campaign that there is no Plan B if the treaty is rejected and that there would not be a second referendum.
But one option being discussed in senior diplomatic circles is for candidates in the French presidential election in 2007 to promise to ratify the treaty in parliament rather than by referendum.
Mr Blair is expected to respond to the French result on Monday morning from Italy, where he is spending the Bank Holiday weekend. He is reconciled to Britain's six-month presidency of the EU, which starts in July, being dominated by efforts to salvage key parts of the constitution if the French and Dutch reject it.
Why did Chirac choose a referendum? Did he want a NO vote? Would a NO vote be to his advantage in some way?
Not that anyone had any illusions that France was a democracy anyways.
What a bunch of hosers!
Is he planning to bring Hitler back to force the EU on Europeans?
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