Sarkozy puts votes over diplomacy

France's Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie stepped down on Sunday evening after she came under fire for her close contacts with the deposed Tunisian regime. The left-leaning daily Libération accuses Sarkozy of retaining his discredited minister for too long for the sake of election tactics: "It is as if the electoral basis of the [majority party] UMP counted for more than the insurgents in Tripoli, Cairo or Tunis. ... As his results in the opinion polls steadily worsened, Sarkozy was above all interested in getting his ailing government back in fighting shape just a few months after an unsuccessful government reshuffle. Instead of sharing the hope that emerged from the uprisings, he once more sought to make political hay from the fear of countless refugees. It seems as if French foreign policy is being sacrificed at the alter of electoral tactics."

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