Sarkozy sets UMP rivals on path to truce

The first sign of a truce in the leadership feud convulsing France’s conservative opposition emerged on Tuesday as Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president, stepped in to negotiate an end to the crisis.

Under strong pressure from Mr Sarkozy to reach a solution, the two warring candidates to succeed him at the head of the UMP movement met for only the second time since the leadership vote on November 18 to discuss a peace proposal.

Mr Sarkozy has avoided any public statements on the furious battle between François Fillon, his former prime minister, and Jean-François Copé, a former budget minister.

But a UMP member of parliament who spoke to Mr Sarkozy on Tuesday said he was “exasperated” by the crisis, which has threatened to tear apart the disparate right-of-centre factions that make up the party, crippling the country’s main opposition force.

The former president engaged in intense negotiations after a previous mediation attempt failed on Sunday. This time the talks produced an agreement by Mr Fillon and Mr Copé to meet and discuss a proposal apparently made by Mr Sarkozy to stage a referendum among party members by the end of January on whether to hold a new leadership vote.

The proposal was adopted by Mr Copé, who insists he won the original contest fairly despite days of confusion over the outcome, furious allegations of fraud on both sides and Mr Fillon’s refusal to accept the official result.

Mr Fillon, who had demanded a full new election, was said by his camp to be favourable to the referendum idea.

The former premier had earlier announced he was setting up a separate group in the National Assembly that would operate independently of the overall UMP parliamentary party, the first step towards a formal split that many supporters fear.

“Nobody is the leader of the UMP today,” Mr Fillon declared. “We are neither beaten nor mute.”

He said the new group would only be dissolved if and when a new election was held. Fillon supporters claimed more than 60 assembly members – out of a total of 195 UMP members – would join the new parliamentary faction.

But Mr Copé, who was officially declared the winner of the November 18 vote for the second time on Monday, insisted that Mr Fillon reverse the move as part of a peace deal. He also insisted on remaining as party leader in the interim.