French President François Hollande criticized over lack of action regarding Syrian conflict
French President François Hollande is being criticized by conservatives for his lack of leadership in the Syrian conflict.
France played a key role in planning and executing the 2011 Libyan military intervention, and Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande’s predecessor, was generally praised for his handling of the conflict.
Now, Hollande’s constituency expects him to play a leadership role in the Western response to the Syrian conflict, just as Sarkozy played a leadership role in Libya.
French conservatives are criticizing Hollande for “taking a back seat” in Syria.
On Friday, the Washington Post reported that Sarkozy spoke with the head of the main Syrian opposition, Abdulbaset Sieda. After the conversation, Sarkozy said he found the situation in Syria to be quite similar to the situation in Libya.
According to France 24, Sarkozy has urged Hollande to push a French-led military intervention to help Syrian rebels overthrow Assad’s regime.
Hollande ended his summer holiday on the French Riviera early in order to attend a ceremony for a French soldier killed in Afghanistan. In a statement at the ceremony, Reuters quoted Hollande as saying, France is “carrying out our humanitarian duty in addition to support for the Syrian opposition.”
Sarkozy lost the presidency to Hollande in May and until now, was silent on the subject of Hollande’s presidency.
