Sarkozy to open agriculture show
The president is going back to tradition after upsetting farmers by snubbing the opening last year
PRESIDENT Sarkozy is renewing a tradition he interrupted last year by opening this year’s Salon de l’Agriculture.
Last year he merely visited the show, a week after it opened, which was seen as a snub by farmers.
The gesture is being interpreted as a bid to win back the confidence of the agricultural sector in the run-up to next year’s presidential elections. Traditionally right-wing, many farmers abstained from voting in last year’s regional elections, contributing to a landslide for the Socialists.
Mr Sarkozy will open the event on Saturday, in Paris. It is France’s biggest event of its kind and an annual showcase for the country’s agriculture.
This comes after several months of visits and political gestures towards the farmers, who have been suffering because of low prices. Sarkozy has told them he sees agriculture as a priority and has said he will defend the Common Agricultural Policy, in the face of proposals from some members states, including the UK, to reduce money spent on farmer subsidies.
As the current G20 president he is also organising a meeting of G20 agriculture ministers in the first half of this year to look at issues around produce prices on the wider world stage.
Three years ago the salon was the setting for one of the more controversial episodes in the Sarkozy presidency when a man in the crowd refused to shake his hand, whereupon Mr Sarkozy said: “Casse-toi alors, pauv’ con” (Get lost then, you sad git).
Andi Taranczuk - Fotolia.com
