She praised the record of a government in which she has been serving since 2007. University autonomy, fighting against debt... “France is facing difficulties but it is a country that is rising again,” stated Mrs. Kosciusko-Morizet, pointing out the “lack of credibility” of the UMP's opponents.
Mr. Fillon then took over and praised the “qualities” of Mrs. Kosciusko-Morizet. “She is at once a modern woman, with unwavering determination, who embodies the face of a modern and courageous majority,” judged Mr. Fillon. “Nathalie, she is both heart and reason,” he added.
Persistent, the leader of the majority mocked the “other candidates who were parading around,” before the announcement of Mr. Sarkozy’s candidacy, “armed with enticing polls and giving us the result of an election that was to take place months later.”
“The mass is never said until you enter the voting booth,” Fillon remarked, despite the polls that consistently predict a victory for the Socialist candidate in May.
According to him, a “second term” for Mr. Sarkozy is “a necessity because there is still so much to do!” He successively criticized the archaism of socialism, conceived “at the beginning of the 20th century,” when “social conquests were necessary and Europe dominated the world,” and the programmatic vagueness of Mr. Hollande.
“The Socialist Party candidate no longer dreams of imposing on France a socialist program,” Mr. Fillon noted, referring to remarks attributed to Mr. Hollande in The Guardian.
[Note: The links provided in the original text appear promotional and have been excluded from the translation.]