No mediation was possible yesterday at the National Assembly, where the Mayor of Bordeaux had gathered the two camps in an attempt to find a solution to end the crisis stemming from the confusion in which the UMP finds itself following the election of its President.
For François Fillon, it is his opponent who does not want mediation: “Jean-François Copé chose to reject the proposals made by Alain Juppé. These proposals had my full support.” Meanwhile, Jean-François Copé prefers to place his trust in the appeals committee, which immediately resumed its work last night. This committee is itself strongly criticized by two observers from the Fillon camp, Éric Ciotti and Éric Berdoati, who left it, deeming it “illegitimate,” and chose to follow their mentor’s preference for a judicial route.
The convoluted saga seems far from over, and the coming week is likely to bring its share of developments, with Nicolas Sarkozy keeping a very close eye on the situation, as numerous sources have confirmed his phone contact with Alain Juppé. As a split in the Assembly seems to be on the horizon, the UMP is at risk of losing years of work over a “simple” internal election.
Only one question remains, as suggested by opinion polls: Why not simply organize the election again, this time according to the rules?
