Sarkozy is the new French President.
I always have been a keen follower of the French elections, having established that I am a Francophile, I often closely watch the happening in the French politics. From the agonizing times, when Chirac nuclear test-bombed the Mururoa Atoll in the French Polynesia, to the multilaterist stand it took against the US war in Iraq. With the Paris riots still fresh in everyone's memory, anti-Immigration conservative Nicolas Sarkozy the winner of the recent Presidential elections against the wishy-washy Socialist counterpart - Segolene Royal - faced off in the 2nd round of voting in a runoff, after effectively eliminating Centrist Francois Bayrou.
A Sarkozy Presidency was dreaded by most overseas French I know because of his authoritarian bent, which is sadly, contradictory to the libertine nation such as France. Born from Hungarian immigrants- the world will closely watch how Sarkozy will handle issues of immigration, unemployment and the French stature in international community. For countries like the Philippines, travel to France would be tighter than ever. My French friend Thomas, whose girlfriend is another lawyer friend, Tina, emphatically told me over cocktails to help him campaign for Royal, because it would be more difficult for Tina to come to France once Sarkozy wins. Alas. More than 24 hours later, his worst nightmare came true. And the same sentiments go with my other friends Claude, Pierre, Louis, Frederic... We will soon find out wont we? Sarkozy, interestingly, seemed to ally itself closer to Washington. Should we be seeing a closer and softer French support for the war efforts in the Middle East?
But how does Sarkozy differs from Royal? The BBC has broken them down into these parts:
|  | Nicolas Sarkozy, the 52-year-old leader of the centre-right UMP and former interior minister, sharply divides opinion but is the front-runner to get into the Elysee Palace after winning 31% of votes cast in the first round. |
SALARIES, BENEFITS AND PENSIONS
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
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HOUSING
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ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND AGRICULTURE
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ECONOMY AND TAXES
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IMMIGRATION, LAW AND ORDER
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HOW TO PAY FOR IT
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yes ... and i'm so saaaaaad today !!!! :-(
ReplyDeleteNow you cant bring your boy back to France because it will be more difficile. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe French are notoriously resistant to change, and any new president would be hard-pressed to deliver any dramatic departure from the way people here live and work and get along with each other (or don’t).
ReplyDeleteIt was the French, after all, who first observed, “the more things change, the more they remain the same.”
I have the impression that things will move, yes. But will France resemble Britain? No, unlike Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s showdown with British unions and the eventual economic boom her policies helped bring. The French have traditions, attitudes, an attachment to social welfare and, even if change is desirable, they won’t accept change overnight.
How can that be? Both, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal, promised to remake France, deploring the joblessness, the bloated bureaucracy, the lack of entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. Sarkozy has proposed something approaching the Thatcher revolution, while Ms. Royal even suggested scrapping the Fifth Republic. But all that talk ignored two realities:
First, life in France is, on the whole, plenty comfortable. The French flirt with the idea of change, but few in the mainstream want to risk losing France’s “exceptionalism” — that warm bed of traditions and entitlements that lets so many enjoy the benefits of living here.
And the benefits are great. Listen to the conversation with the waiter at the table next to you in a Parisian restaurant at lunchtime and more often than not it will involve a nuanced discussion of what is best to eat and just which wine to drink. Later, the diners will often pay with meal vouchers from their employer.
Cumbersome and costly as the system may be, it’s not exactly broken. So why risk trouble?
Second, there is something about the French that resists a change, even in times of trouble. Historians famously trace it to the Enlightenment, when France developed a republican model based on the collective will. By contrast, republican models in Britain and America stressed the primacy of economics and individualism — what the French still, with a shudder, call liberalism.
To quote Jean-Claud Mailly, (national secretary of the Force Ouvrière union federation ) “French society remains attached to the idea of the collective, a whole series of things are managed collectively.” And that, by its nature, makes things move more slowly than Americans are accustomed to.
Unions and business federations, as sectors of society, are expected to be consulted before legislation is put on the French agenda, for example — a more deliberate, if more open, practice than interest-group lobbying as practiced in the United States.
Of course, France has problems, but a look at some of the most pressing ones shows plenty of room for people to feel smug.
Yes, the economy is sluggish: growth is slow and unemployment is high — about 2.1 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. But France continues to draw large amounts of foreign direct investment, and in 2005, economic output per hour worked was higher than in the United States. The World Health Organization rates the French health care system among the best in the world.
Yes, young people are rebelling: second-generation immigrants took to the streets in 2005 to protest joblessness and discrimination, and college students did something similar last year to protest a law that would have made it easier to fire them from their first jobs.
But as bad as the urban unrest was, it never reached the level of violence seen in periods of unrest in American cities. The more equitable social welfare system here, which is often blamed for some of France’s economic problems, is one reason.
Yes, life is expensive: a web of protectionist regulations has kept a lid on the ability to save money at discount stores and restaurant chains. But that has also kept neighborhood bistros and bakers and cheese shops and charcuteries in business far longer than in most other developed economies, creating a rich fabric of daily life that everyone loves. It is one reason France draws
I was rooting for M'sieur Sarkozy. :D
ReplyDeleteI dread Sarkozy. Though I have to agree that changing a macho society like France, especially in a democratic one is a hard thing to do. There will always be people resistant to change- and there should be enough agitation to make an organization work toward change. From the pages of socialist-communist theories- Educate-Agitate-Revolutionize - that is the fastest way to change. Changing a person is not easy, much less a country. After all the rhetorics and the echoes of Le Debat fade away, France will stay the same more or less. With only 53% mandate of the French electorate, Sarkozy is set to lead a divided country, a country divided by the rightwingers, leftwingers and the centrists (most would have casted a White Ballot). Sarkozy is despised by the immigrants, the poor and the marginalized of France as well as educated French expatriates (Okay, Im going out on a limb here, but only 1 in 10 French I asked in Manila would vote for Sarkozy whom they consider as racists and fascist figure). Remember the fires of the recent Paris riots. Marginalization of Turkey as well as the sidling up to Washington can invite the roving eye of Islamists who can turn the Paris Metro as Atocha Number 2. Compared with Jean Marie Le Pen, a Sarkozy Presidency can inadvertently turn France into a fascistic and reactionary country.
ReplyDeleteTwo among the reasons why Royal dint win, IMO, 1) she's a woman and 2) she's too wishy washy in most issues. (Sarkozy might be wrong in most of the issues but at least he had the convictions to defend it.)
Doc, you were rooting for Sarko? Good luck to all your visa applications then, it will be harder to get into France than ever with Sarkozy around.
Mmm... i'm not planning to emigrate to France anyhow. :D
ReplyDeletehehehe... Even then.. Just travelling to France would be harder even as tourists. And the statement was rhetorical. hehehe.
ReplyDelete" Though I have to agree that changing a macho society like France " <<<<<<< since when did France become one? LOL, haven't you heard of France reputation when it comes to capitulation, i think, raising the white flag has always been a part of their military system, LOL ( not counting the French Foreign Legion, obviously, they're not french ) well, to safe face, they call it strategic surrender, LOL, France has long had a policy of strategic surrender. Lately, it was the capitulation to HAMAS, what's next? Here are some nice links : http://www.code7r.org/Bintoons/allies2.htm , http://www.francesurrenders.com/ and http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/02/preemptive_surrender_russia_an.html
ReplyDeletehere's more on the french : http://www.code7r.org/Bintoons/allies3.htm
ReplyDeletehehehe. ;) But one of the greatest military war theorists is French - Ferdinand Foch.
ReplyDeletewell, the theories sure didn't help, again, here's a list of actual military actions where France was involved, check the outcome, http://www.code7r.org/Bintoons/allies3.htm , secondly, strategic surrender was an art perfected by them, hey, it's a military tactic too, hahaha
ReplyDeletehehehe, i admit, am biased against France, lol, you can't blame me, their actions speaks for them, lol, a few losses wouldn't piss me off, but hey, we're talking about 2-3 centuries of surrender here, hahaha, anyway, no matter how many write ups you show me, my view of on the french wouldn't change, lol
ReplyDeleteAgree to disagree then, but I say it now and I'll say it again, rightwing politics is not my cup of tea nor the ultra left either. ;)
ReplyDelete