Sarkozy’s UMP youth wing launch 'star-studded' music video

A music video made by the ruling French UMP's youth movement is creating considerable media buzz. Launched ahead of French regional election campaigns, the deliberately amateurish clip features cameos from the party's top brass.

By FRANCE 24 (text)

There’s no such thing as bad press, the saying goes, and the youth movement of France’s ruling Union for a Popular Movement party is taking the adage to heart. The group has created a quirky music video that features cameos from the party’s big guns.

Ministers and senior officials of President Nicolas Sarkozy' administration appear alongside the young supporters, dancing and lip-syncing along to a 1976 stage song by Luc Plamondon called Tous ceux qui veulent changer le monde. [Everyone who wants to change the world].

The clip’s deliberate poor production value stands in striking contrast to its star-studded cast. Ministers Xavier Darcos (Labour) and Christine Lagarde (Finance) participate in the choreographed arm movements. Ministers Valérie Pécresse (Higher Education and Research), Patrick Devedjian (Economic Revival), party spokesman Frederic Lefebvre and former justice minister Rachida Dati (pictured) all join in the youthful antics.

Several parodies are already circulating on the web. Among the most viewed is a version that takes a stab at the current government-sponsored national debate on French identity. Set to the same soundtrack, it shows images of poverty and immigration crackdowns that are far less amusing than Christine Lagarde cutting rug.

Reeking of amateurish taste, the clip is creating significant media buzz ahead of France’s regional elections in March 2010. The video was slated to appear on Friday, but it was “leaked” to news channel BFM TV on Thursday, and has been driving thousands of visitors to the collaborative news website Le Poste.fr where it is posted. Mission accomplished.