After a similar exercise in Italy which saw hundreds turn out to protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a group of French Bloggers has called for a “No Sarkozy Day” to be held across France Saturday
By FRANCE 24
A group of bloggers who claim to have 354,000 members on social networking site Facebook have called for a ‘No Sarkozy Day’ across France Saturday.
Coming just one week after the French president suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections, group organisers called for protests in town centres across France and at the Place de la Bastille in the Capital.
The group has received support from artists, actors, writers and economists. They say that the French president has “failed in his duty to uphold the ideals” of the country.
“Quite simply we are calling for Sarkozy’s resignation,” the group writes.
Italian inspiration
Group organiser Benjamin Ball said they were inspired by a similar “No Berlusconi Day” that was held in Italy on December 6, which resulted in huge demonstrations against the Italian prime minister.
Sarkozy has suffered significant setbacks in recent weeks. The electorate gave him a firm vote of no confidence in last week’s regional elections, both with a record low turnout and by handing a landslide victory to the opposition Socialists.
Even his father, Pal Sarkozy, said he did not want to see his son run for a second term in office in 2012.
On the Web, the call for protests against Sarkozy has raised significant debate.
Some 30 prominent bloggers said publicly they would not participate in the “No Sarkozy Day”.
“First of all, Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president,”’ they write. “Certainly, Nicolas Sarkozy’s France is far from being a perfect place, but we are committed to the democratic principle”.
France24
