Nicolas Sarkozy made a dramatic return to the French political scene on Friday, slamming a decision to deny his right-wing UMP party millions of euros in campaign reimbursements and issuing a call to arms to his supporters. Sarkozy, defeated by Socialist Francois Hollande in last year’s presidential vote, denounced the “unprecedented” decision to deny his party campaign funds and vowed to “take on my responsibilities”. With his party stuck in a divisive leadership battle and now facing financial chaos, the 58-year-old Sarkozy appeared to be positioning himself for the political comeback many have been predicting since his defeat. Party sources said Sarkozy would attend an extraordinary meeting of the UMP leadership on Monday. An enraged Sarkozy on Thursday took the unexpected step of resigning from the Constitutional Council, France’s top constitutional body, after it upheld a decision by election auditors to deny the UMP a reimbursement of about 11 million euros ($13 million) because it breached campaign spending limits.
Enraged Sarkozy re-emerges after party expenses rejection
