Sarkozy sings another tune as vote looms
French leader reverses on some issues
PARIS — For months, French President Nicolas Sarkozy portrayed himself as the savior of the European Union, touting the virtues of cooperation among Europeans as he brokered a deal to save the continent from a massive piling of debt.
“We must be more like Germany,” the conservative told voters late last year as he extolled Berlin’s drive to force EU nations to slash spending and public benefits.
That was then. Running for re-election and lagging in the polls against his Socialist opponent, Sarkozy is attacking the European Union’s trade and immigration policies. He is even threatening to pull out of the landmark pact that gives Europeans the right to travel and work freely in any EU nation.
“I want a Europe that protects its citizens,” he told a large crowd of voters in a Paris suburb recently. “I no longer want this savage competition.”
A president who began his term in 2007 saying France had to compete to win economically, is now saying he wants a protectionist “Buy French” law. And he is calling for tighter border controls because “there are too many immigrants.”
As Sarkozy fights for a second five-year term, political observers say his about-face on the issues and attempt to overcome an image as an elitist derided as “President Bling-bling” won’t work. The first electoral round is April 22; the final one is May 6.
“During the two first years of his mandate, his behavior shocked the French people, and he has disappointed his supporters,” says political commentator Christophe Barnier of L’EXpress magazine. “He has broken any real link with the people.”
Sarkozy won the presidency nearly five years ago in a campaign in which he vowed to transform France into a strong, modern nation. Many voters on the left were drawn to his energy and charisma. His “man of the people” persona, a contrast from the elites who traditionally have ruled France, drew working class votes from the right.
The son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother of Greek and Jewish heritage, Sarkozy did not follow the traditional path to French politics through the exclusive, contact- rich graduate school, École Nationale d’administration. A lawyer, his conservative leanings played well in his home district of wealthy Neuilly-sur-seine just outside Paris.
President Jacques Chirac tapped Sarkozy in 2002 to head the Interior Ministry, where he made a name as a law-and-order minister who sought to curb immigration after riots in housing projects dominated by Muslims of North African descent.
From the start of his presidency, Sarkozy made a splash on the international scene. Two months after taking office, he obtained the release of Bulgarian nuns held captive in Libya. He ate burgers and hot dogs with President George W. Bush in Maine. He orchestrated a ceasefire in the 2008 Russian invasion of the nation of Georgia.
In France, he put down riots that resurfaced in Parisian suburbs. He backed the outlawing of face-covering veils worn by some Muslim women. He spearheaded the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62.
“He is extremely energetic and willful,” Barnier says. “There have been many reforms during his administration.”
On the other hand, Sarkozy’s hands-on approach meant he was blamed for much that went wrong, including the downgrading of France’s credit rating in January. “It seems as if French voters are just no longer listening to what President Sarkozy has to say,” political analyst Dave Clark says.
Even worse for his electoral prospects, Clark says, has been the fading of Sarkozy’s “common man” image that began when he celebrated his victory at the prestigious Fouquet’s restaurant on the Champs-élysées surrounded by show-biz celebrities and industrialists.
He then soon divorced his second wife, Cecilia. Just weeks later, he was seen with Italian model Carla Bruni on his arm — making the tabloids’ front pages.
“There was a theory that he was more worried about his own family than about ruling France,” says Clark, who adds that by marrying Bruni, a “rich Italian heiress and top model, he cemented his image as a man from the wealthy elite.”
So how does Sarkozy win reelection amid poor economic performance and a tarnished image? Perhaps by arguing that the French could do a lot worse.
Sarkozy’s campaign slogan, “A Strong France,” suggests the nation needs a strong personality to protect it from forces that wish it ill, and that Socialist candidate François Hollande is too weak of a leader to trust in such a complex time.
Hollande was not supposed to be the Socialists’ man; the party drafted him after Dominique Strauss-kahn was arrested in New York on sexual assault charges. Sarkozy’s indefatigable campaigning may yet save him against Hollande, a former economics professor not known for mingling with the people.
And Sarkozy reminded voters of the “first cop” reputation they favored five years ago when last month a Muslim jihadist shot and killed seven people. He vowed the killer would be found within days, and indeed he was and shot dead by police.
Sarkozy has followed up with near-daily announcements of initiatives to crack down on Muslim extremists, and his poll numbers have inched upward. Still, some voters say they will not be seduced again.
“(Sarkozy) has led us to believe that he would use his incredible energy to help France, but he didn’t — he only helped himself and his friends,” said Michele Weiss, 48, a businesswoman who voted for Sarkozy in 2007.