Storm over minister's comments casts pall over Sarkozy visit

Over the weekend, France’s Minister for Overseas Territories, Marie-Luce Penchard, stirred controversy when she said that she wished to “serve only one people, the Guadeloupian people” during a regional election meeting.

"We have a budget of more than 500 million euros today for the overseas territories, and it would be hard for me to see this windfall go to the French Guiana or the Reunion or Martinique,” she said.

The Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as the South American territory of French Guyana are part of overseas French-administered territories. All French overseas territories have representatives in the French parliament.

Penchard, a native of Guadeloupe, is also running as the ruling UMP party’s candidate for Guadeloupe in regional elections next month.

‘I have the support of the president’

Following Penchard’s comments, the opposition Socialist Party immediately called for her resignation, accusing her of “regionalism”. “We'd like to ask the French president to clarify the situation and ask Mrs. Penchard to resign as minister immediately,'' said Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamoni said.

Responding to the criticism, Penchard has maintained that her statement was taken out of context, and that she had spoken not as a minister but as an election candidate. “I said I wanted to serve Gaudeloup as a candidate for elected office. But that doesn't mean that I would abuse my job as minister,” she said.