PARIS, (Reuters) – A tweet by France’s first lady in support of an election rival of President Francois Hollande’s ex-partner has triggered a politically damaging media firestorm just days from a decisive round of parliamentary elections.
The tweet made public a private rivalry between Hollande’s partner Valerie Trierweiler and his former companion, Segolene Royal, and threatened to wreck his promise of a more sober presidency after soap opera saga of his predecessor’s love life.
In her post on the messaging network, Trierweiler told Olivier Falorni – a candidate for the La Rochelle constituency in western France that Royal is contesting – to “Take heart,” praising him for his dedication.
Adding to the spice, Royal, who lost a 2007 presidential contest to Sarkozy, has the support of her Socialist party and its one-time boss – Hollande.
Hollande is on track to win a majority for his Socialist bloc in Sunday’s runoff, after a victory in last week’s first round, but he needs to keep all his supporters on board and avoid the internecine divisions which have plagued the Socialists in the past.
“The First Gaffe of France,” left-leaning newspaper Liberation declared over a full front page photo of Trierweiler. It devoted five pages to the affair while the popular daily Le Parisien published photos of the two women under the headline, “The secret history of a rivalry.”
The highbrow Le Monde daily said in an editorial the Twitter affair echoed “the worst hours” of the very public domestic dramas between former President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ex-wife Cecilia.
The main victim in the Twitter scandal, it wrote, “is the image of a consistent president, serene and master of his message.”
During his campaign, Hollande vowed do away with the much-criticized intermingling of private and public spheres that alienated many voters from Sarkozy, whether his high-profile wooing of former supermodel Carla Bruni or splashy vacations taken with the rich and powerful while president.
