The French President’s embarrassing G8 press conference hardly detracts from his ability to refresh French politics
Cynical critics of the usefulness of the annual G8 summits need only enter “Nicholas Sarkozy” into their search engine of choice in order to receive a seeming affirmation of their fears, thanks in great part to YouTube.com. Yes, the same web giant that brought us Vladimir Putin fishing topless brings us our very own private viewing of an extremely lit French President Nicholas Sarkozy trying to keep it together while answering questions during the post-G8 summit press conference of 2007. That was merely one month after he was elected on May 6th.
One may argue that perhaps President Sarkozy should be granted at least some mercy for his indiscretion. He was, after all, attempting to negotiate with President Putin throughout the summit in the hopes that the Russian president would agree to get Iran to curb its suspiciously augmenting uranium production, which was described by the International Atomic Energy Agency as having reached the threatening level of 2,000 centrifuges. That’s a growth rate of 100 centrifuges every week. Nevertheless, President Sarkozy’s appeals were met only with this glaring Russian retort: “We do not have any data that says Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons. We do not have such objective data. Therefore, we proceed from the position that Iran has no such plans.” Truly…where does one go from there but to a stiff drink?
In spite of this alcohol-induced road bump however, President Nicholas Sarkozy seems to be quite a promising president, both domestically and diplomatically. His many-stopped political rise from city councillor and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine to the President of the Republic of France has been laced with controversy throughout as a result of his frequent betrayals of political alliances. The most recent incident involved former French President Jacques Chirac, whom he betrayed in 1995 by supporting Edouard Balladur for French President, in spite of their previous friendship. Chirac won, and despite Sarkozy’s brash display of disloyalty, Chirac appointed Sarkozy to a series of government positions throughout his presidency. Some of those included Minister of the Interior (2002), Finance Minister (2004), and Honoree of the Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur (2005) (bestowed by Chirac). Ultimately, he managed to also win President Chirac’s endorsement as a presidential candidate in the 2007 elections.
Sarkozy’s consistent re-appointment and promotion by Chirac, in spite of the preexisting tensions, indicates that politically he has won the hard-earned respect of what could have been a potential rival. This is no small feat. Indeed, Sarkozy has seen many of the policies which he has pushed actually implemented throughout his various political careers making him incredibly difficult to ignore. Sarkozy’s courage in standing up for his beliefs instead of falling into the pervasive trap of political cronyism is certainly commendable In fact, it is this impressive track record which has undoubtedly given his supporters the necessary confidence in his ability to successfully pass legislation that aims to positively alter the hard-to-crack French status quo.
According to BBC News, “President Sarkozy insists that France needs to change and that nothing will derail his ambitious program of reform.” This emphatic tone also permeated his late-September speeches on pension and civil service reforms, in which he announced that he would “not give in” and that he would “see this through to the end”. The reforms to which Sarkozy was referring will eliminate pension perks enjoyed exclusively by certain public sector workers in high risk jobs, such as train and electricity workers, that allow them to retire at the young age of 50 with full benefits. It is evident that both parties (the high risk and the low risk public sector workers) will present convincing arguments for or against the proposed reforms and that Sarkozy will be hard-pressed to reach consensus in order to commence legislation. Ultimately though, he will have to come up with a solution that addresses the underlying problem: The payment of these types of pensions cost the French government 6 billion € (~$8 billion) annually, a sum that state coffers are no longer able to sustain. To come to a consensus, Sarkozy will have to battle France’s historically strong unions, who stand ready to fight these reforms with their debilitating and dragged-on strikes. Indeed, some unions rival Sarkozy in their stubbornness. It will be particularly important for Sarkozy to navigate successfully the looming clash between dissenting unions and the government. Hopefully, he won’t do it drunk.
Along with President Sarkozy’s proposals of wide scale domestic reform, which also include tighter restrictions on immigration and his general promise to “not waste a single euro of public money,” the right-wing president is a proclaimed fan of the United States, and plans to make this alignment a characteristic of the French domestic economy. Despite the fact that he did not support the US decision to go to war with Iraq, Sarkozy admires the American idea of freeing up the economy and believes that France will experience even greater economic success if it takes some steps in this direction. According to the Washington Post, “Sarkozy has promised to boost economic growth and employment by cutting taxes, reducing deficits, shrinking government and loosening labor laws–the kind of free-market policies embraced by the United States and Britain, but long eschewed by French leaders.” This comes in response to France’s “economic decline at home and sinking influence abroad.”
The gust of fresh air which President Sarkozy promises to breathe into the French economy is likely to also be felt across the Atlantic, as US ties to France, which suffered under Jacques Chirac’s presidency, are expected to improve markedly under the new administration. However, while Sarkozy promises to nurture diplomatic ties with the US, he asserts that France will continue to steer clear of the war in Iraq. Furthermore, he criticizes the US stance with regard to global warming and proposes that the US should take a more active role when it comes to implementing reform in this area.
President Sarkozy states, “I’d like to appeal to our American friends to say that they can count on our friendship, but I would also like to say that friendship means accepting that your friends don’t necessarily see eye to eye with you….a great nation like the United States has the duty not to oppose the fight against global warming, but to lead that battle, because what is at stake is the destiny of mankind.”
However, President Sarkozy will have to be careful to nurture social diplomacy domestically as well, especially with regards to his stance on immigration. In addition to the fact that he proposes cutting social welfare programs directed to immigrants, he has been quoted by several sources as referring to the multitude of lower class immigrants in France as “scum” and “racaille,” a group of disreputable or worthless people. Considering that cooperation with this social class will be necessary in order to negotiate the appropriate immigration policy, it goes without saying that President Sarkozy will need to avoid stirring this already volatile and riot-prone population.
Despite these controversies, which Sarkozy has never been able to avoid throughout his political career, his domestic economic policies promise to positively impact and transform the French economy, which has grown slightly stagnant as a result of the greater tendency of the French government under Chirac towards protectionism. It will be important, however, that President Sarkozy select wisely when deciding which publicly-funded programs need to be kept or cut in order to maintain France’s social cohesiveness. His lack of timidity when it comes to enacting legislation is truly an asset, but only if he pays close attention to France’s domestic social demands.
Politics aside, President Sarkozy is a young-looking 52-year-old, with an optimistic outlook and unremitting drive. If these qualities are channeled in the proper direction (and if the alcohol consumption is reserved for occasional down-time), then President Sarkozy indeed promises to offer a newer and fresher face to France, both at home and abroad. For more political analysis and commentary, check out our archives.
