At a debate organized by a conservative group yesterday, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy told supporters that the country's same-sex marriage law should be repealed.

The Guardian reports:

Referring to the “mariage pour tous” or “marriage for all” legislation passed by France's Socialist government last year, he said it needed “rewriting from top to bottom”.

His comments prompted catcalls from the 3,000-strong audience of the group Common Sense, and cries of “Repeal! Repeal!”. Sarkozy, appearing rattled, responded: “If you'd rather one says repeal the law and make another one … in French, that's saying the same thing. It comes to the same result.

“But hey, if that makes you happy, then frankly, it doesn't cost much.”

Sarkozy went on to say that he was in favour of some form of marriage for same-sex couples, but something different from that for heterosexuals, and that he opposed surrogacy for same-sex couples. […]

Sarkozy's comment and apparent policy-making on the hoof brought angry reactions from the governing Socialist party, which accused him of “appealing to the most reactionary instincts of his core supporters”. A spokesperson said Sarkozy wanted to create “a new form of segregation” with his two-tier marriage proposal.

Sarkozy is in the midst of an attempted political comeback and is vying to lead the country's centre-right UMP party into the 2017 presidential election.

Back in September, during his first television interview since announcing his intention to return to politics, Sarkozy accused the socialist government of "humiliating families and humiliating people who love the family" by introducing the legislation allowing same-sex marriage.

Sarkozy is on his third marriage.