Leaked tapes threaten Sarkozy’s comeback

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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (Chesnot/Getty Images)

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not the only politician to be haunted by leaked recordings. On Wednesday, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy joined the expanding club of high-profile statesmen (and presumed presidential candidates) to be involved in a leaks scandal when French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchainé and the website Atlantico both published transcripts of illicit recordings made at the Elysée Palace in 2011.

VISUAL CONTEXT: Presidential unpopularity in France

Source: The Economist

The tapes (which, it must be noted, do not reveal any illegal activity) come from former Sarkozy aide Patrick Buisson, who reportedly used a hidden recorder to tape private meetings with the then president. Buisson, under heavy fire from Sarkozy’s center-right UMP party, claims the recordings were made for professional reasons — i.e., to prepare for follow-up meetings — and were later stolen from his residence. The published transcripts reveal internal squabbling over the makeup of the president’s cabinet, jabs by top officials at Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni, and Sarkozy’s dismissive attitude towards some of his ministers, notably former prime minister François Fillon.

All in all, nothing out of the ordinary for the non-public professional life of head of government and his inner circle. Sarkozy’s camp is all the same furious at what it calls a “betrayal,” noting the tapes are “akin to a type of rape.” Even President François Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party (PS) is up in arms, calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the confidentiality breach. But no party is reeling more from the revelations, gleefully dubbed “Sarkoleaks” by the French press, than the UMP, which can ill afford a new scandal three weeks before critical local elections are to take place (and three months before European ones). Especially with party head Jean-François Copé under the microscope for corruption allegations, and the party coffers running thin after a close brush with bankruptcy last year.

With the leaked tapes hinting at infighting within the party long before the battle over the party leadership (Fillon vs. Cope) made headlines in 2013, the UMP looks weaker than ever — this despite the disastrous performance of the French Left since Hollande took office in 2012. Now, with the Socialists and the UMP struggling with scandal and low approval ratings alike, the stage is set for one of France’s most indefatigable politicians, Marine le Pen, to lead her far-right Front National party (FN) to, if not a resounding triumph at municipal elections, than at least a respectable showing. More importantly, Le Pen looks set to make serious headway towards her long sought after goal of normalization of the FN.

But with hours of recording yet to be unveiled, the Sarkoleaks may cast a longer shadow. Notably over Sarkozy’s planned comeback in preparation for the presidential race in 2017. Plenty of time, as Blouin Beat blogger Matt Taylor notes, for the incumbent to turn things (namely, the economy and unemployment) around. And worse still for Sarkozy, plenty of time for more skeletons to emerge from the presidential hopeful’s closet.