Britain was embarrassed by the events in Libya that put its former leaders in a bad light for their dealings with Qaddafi. The embarrassment extended to institutions such as the London School of Economics, that gave Qaddafi's son Saif a doctorate and shortly afterwards received a generous donation from the Crown Prince to fund the scholarly program.
Britain's position isl better than that of France. The British politicians who embarrassed Britons are no longer in power, whereas French Foreign Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie was severely compromised by her family connections to the regime of deposed Tunisian president Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali. She offered the former the Tunisian regime advice on how to put down demonstrations. French President Nicholas Sarkozy had established a Mediterranean Union that he cochaired with former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with great fanfare and few results.
Having sustained embarrassment and criticism, the French government scrambled to repair the damage. One manifestation is that France has jumped to the head of European assistance to the Libyan insurgency. It is sending 2 planes to insurgent-held Benghazi crammed with doctors, nurses and medical supplies as part of French "humanitarian support for the population of the liberated territories." France also headed the movement to impose sanctions on the Qaddafi regime.
A second aspect was a cabinet reshuffle that deposed Alliot-Marie and brought in former Prime Minister Alain Juppéto the Quai D'Orsay -- to the French Foreign Ministry from his post as Defense Miniister. Juppé serves simultaneously as the mayor of Bordeaux.
Mr Sarkozy’s chief of staff and close collaborator, Claude Guéant, is to leave the Élysée Palace to become Interior Minister. While in the French political system the interior ministry has always been a coveted post endowed with tremendous power, it also means that the new foreign minister will have more influence in shaping French foreign policy. At present, the party of the French president also commands a parliamentary majority. When this is the case, power tends to migrate from the cabinet to the presidential staff, as frequently occurs under the American presidential system.
Juppéwill be returning to the ministry in which he successfully served from 1993-1995 in the government of Jacques Chirac, Sarkozy''s predecessor as French president. Sarkozy and Chirac loathed each other and therefore at the start of his presidency Sarkozy kept Chirac era heavyweights at a distance.
Now as the 2012 elections approach, the French president must shore up unity in his UMP party and stock the cabinet with proven talent. The spokesman for the French government, Francois Baroi'n, had to play down speculation that the status of Juppéwould resembles a deputy prime minister. "The ministers are servants, some of them are more experienced than others and Alain JuppéIs undoubtedly one of them." The appointment and the cabinet reshuffle were necessary to coordinate between French diplomatic policy and the protection of French territory and also to manage migratory flows.
Juppé's elevation added to French embarrassment over recent events in the Middle East, may impact on the plan to hold a discussion within the party on the role of Islam-- a discussion that was viewed as an attempt to steal the thunder of the new National Front leader Marinne Le Pen.
J uppé, then defense minister, had expressed his reservations."We must control this debate because it is inconceivable to stigmatize the second religion of France."."As late as mid-February, president Sarkozy was more gung ho "it's necessary to have an Islam of France and not Islam in France." Or in another comment "it is necessary for the new Union for a popular majority to launch a debate on Islam. As for myself I would like to go further: I don't want minarets, no calls for prayer in the public space, and no prayers on the street."
Sarkozy is now getting cold feet. Christian Estrosi, an intimate of Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to "defer" the discussion due to international events: "We cannot discuss secularism that may stigmatize Islam as the world's eyes turned to the peoples of the Arab world who legitimately aspire to more democracy."