[Η Σεσιλιά το λέει ξεκάθαρα ότι δεν πήγαινε καθόλου καλά στα προσωπικά της και συνεπώς δεν της απέμενε παρά ένας συναινετικός χωρισμός...]
For a woman who says she detests the limelight, Cécilia Sarkozy has done an admirable job for the past couple of days. First she posed for a Paris Match spread (last post) that splashed onto the news stands on the day her divorce was announced. Today, she has wrapped up the Elysée saga with a heart-to-heart in a provincial newspaper -- after the palace announced that she would say nothing.
Here are key extracts, or turn to the full version (in French) in L'Est Républicain. I'll make no comment, except to note that this week, with the president's personal life going so public, is something new and healthy for France. A poll in today's Parisien shows that 92 percent of the public say the divorce will not alter their opinion of Sarko. Fifty percent believe that the break-up will have no serious effect on him, with 28 percent believing it will have a positive impact and 16 percent negative.
The Cécilia interview:
I feel that it's my duty to myself to explain why I no longer want to play the role -- if there is one -- of French First Lady. Also to explain the reasons why I asked for a divorce and why I want to withdraw from public life.
In 2005, I met someone and fell in love and left. Perhaps it was a bit rushed, given the media attention under which I was living at the time. I wanted to behave correctly and come back to try to rebuild something, to return the the principles to which I was accustomed....
For two years, I have not spoken. You should know that this public life does not suit me, the person I am deep inside. I am someone who likes the shade, peace of mind and calm. I had a husband who was a public figure... When you marry a political figure private and public life become one. That was the start of the problems.
(Becoming president) is for him like a violinist who has been given a Stradivarius. He suddenly has the opportunity to exercise his art. It is not at all the same for me. I worked alongside him but I was not elected and didn't want to be. ...
What is happening to me happens to millions of people. One day, you no longer feel at home in the couple. The couple is no longer the essential thing in your life. It doesn't work any more... The reasons are inexplicable...
Since we had a certain number of principles, we tried to rebuild things, to put the family first... We tried everything, I tried everything. It simply was no longer possible."
The crisis did not suddenly materialise. I came home a year ago. For a year I tried to become involved professionally, personally, but it didn't go well every day. During the G8 (summit) I preferred to leave because my place was no longer there. If I didn't go and vote (for her husband), it's because I didn't feel good, it wasn't the moment to appear in public...
One of the perversions of my position is this obligation to explain that I need to live in peace, in hiding. ... There is no enigma or mystery. There is just a couple going through a crisis, who tried to overcome it and didn't succeed.
I am going to turn the page and above all, I am going to try to live discreetly and in the shade as I like.
On her Libyan trip to bring back the Bulgarian nurses.
I felt that I could do it even if the situation was blocked. I said to Claude Guéant (chief of staff): 'I'm coming with you.' He was quite surprised and talked to the President who said 'Let's go for it. Take her with you'....
For the moment I have no plans. I want to do a lot of things and I feel that I have the possibility of helping others. That has always been in my nature...
I was proud (when Nicolas won the election) because it was the labour of a whole lifetime. It means self abnegation, a lot of sacrifice to get there. I think he is part of that class of men who places his career and life in the service of the State without expecting anything in return.
I think he is a statesman. I think that France deserves him and he deserves France. I was proud and happy for him.
I always tried to be his watchdog because I have an outsider's point of view and I always kept a life a little outside politics. ... But everything that involves appointments and decisions, I am not in the room. I never wanted to interfere in anything.
There are moments when destiny turns hard against you... There are considerable upheavals in my life at the moment. Rather than letting them overtake me, I try to manage them. I am an unconditional positivist. ... I am going to focus on my family. I do not want to live in my past. I don't like living in ruins. The page turns. It's very difficult and that's normal, given the context and the stakes but I never regret my decisions.
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