France rejects Socialism yet again.

24-04-2007 France rejects Socialism, sympathetically After the first round of elections held in France on 22nd April, it has become amply clear that the head of France's ruling UMP, rightist candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, is certain... [more]

24-04-2007


France rejects Socialism, sympathetically

After the first round of elections held in France on 22nd April, it has become amply clear that the head of France's ruling UMP, rightist candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, is certain to beceome the next President of France after the second round of the poll to be held on 06th May the final results of which will be announced on the 10 th, keeping the Socialist camp in the country disillusioned all over again. Mr.Sarkozy, France's rightwing former interior minister, stormed to one of the most impressive first-round victories in French presidential history, making him favourite to beat the socialist Ségolène Royal to the Elysée in a fortnight's time.

There were twelve candidates on yesterday's ballot. Apart from those three, the other "big" one was the centrist Francois Bayrou, who got 18.3% of the national vote.In the run-off, the outcome will depend to some extent which way Bayrou's supporters will turn. The other eight candidates are nearly all from the left.Officially, France now faces the traditional right-left run-off that it was denied in the last election in 2002, when the far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, shocked the country by making it through to the final round. But polling experts last night predicted a very tight race.


French voters particiapted in record high numbers in the first round of the presidential elections on 22d April. The Gaullist Party's Nicolas Sarkozy got around 30% and the Socialists' Segolene Royal, in improvemnt of previous "socialist" records since 1988, got 25.2%. The voters also delivered a sharp rebuff to the far-right, anti-immigrant candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen, giving him only 11.5%. That means that Sarkozy and Segolene will go to the second round run-off on May 6. Five years ago, Le Pen had shocked much of the French intelligentsia by beating the Socialist candidate (Lionel Jospin) into second place, and thus got into the run-off ballot against Chirac a couple of weeks later.


The Socialist cadidate, Ms.Segolene Royal seems to have no costructive socialist ideas and has styled herself the defender of social justice who "listens to the people", challenging Mr Sarkozy indirectly for his "brutal" style, divisiveness and "dangerous" authoritarianism, even tried to woo women by chanpioning feminism . She has conveneintly broken away from the traditional left, styling herself as a mother figure who sings the Marseillaise and calling for everyone to place a French flag in their window.


Sarkozy, whose inspirations are Charles de Gaulle and Pope John Paul II, has said France needs "a new Renaissance" and has promised to restore pride in "what it means to be French".He emerged as the most popular rightwing politician in 30 years after promising to shake France out of its decline with a mixture of free-market reforms, and to restore "authority" with tough law and order measures, clamp down on immigration and instil a sense of "national pride".Addressing a rally of around 2,000 supporters in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said: "I wish only to rally people around a new French dream of a fraternal republic."
He said his vision of France valued work, instilled authority and was a France where people did not fear others. He said he would rally the workers, farmers and all those who had suffered and were "exasperated".

Sarkozy has made quite a break with some of the stiff nationalism the Gaullists have traditionally held to; and he's been seen as far more pro-US than most Gaullists have been in the part. To a certain extent he's had to run away from his pro-US sentiments during the election so far. But he is definitely seen as eager to start dismantling some key aspects of the French "social contract" and shifting the country to what is described here as "the Anglo-Saxon model" of social-service dismantlement.In the last few days of the campaign, Sarko also started talking quite openly about the importance of his Christian beliefs and the fact that France should be less militantly secularist than it has been for the past 125 years.
Some Afro-French women would go to vote agaisnt Sarko, rather than voting for Sego or anyone else.


Mr Le Pen came fourth with 11.5%, his worst result in a presidential election since he first ran in 1974. Reacting to his ejection, Mr Le Pen said: "I thought the French were quite unhappy with the fact that we have 7 million poor people, 14 million poor workers, that we have a trade deficit, that we had a debt of €2,500bn. "Well, I was wrong. The French are very happy. The proof is that they have just re-elected the parties that have been in power and which are responsible for France's situation. I fear this euphoria will not last for a very long time." His anger as well as dispair is quite understandable.

The record 85% turnout in the latest election reflected the huge amount of interest in the race for a new generation of president; 12 years of Jacques Chirac has left the nation struggling with economic stagnation, debt, unemployment, discrimination and simmering unrest on rundown housing estates.


Interestingly, François Hollande, the Socialist party leader, said the choice was now between Mr Sarkozy, who as a former minister represented the outgoing government, and Ms Royal, "the real force of change". French voters still believe unemployment and spending power in the sluggish economy are their main concerns but both candidates have been keen to promote the question of national identity.


However, the fact remains that the French people seem to have reposted faith in the outgong government by overlooking its past non-performnce. Clearly, the Frech Socialists too, confused following the collapse of Soviet Union, have lost their direction and purpose. One more mandate, therefore, for the ruling rightist UMP yet another term for rule. The Leftist parties in other countries clamouring for "covergence atmosphere" and "peaceful coexistsnce" must take note of the results in France, a nation with sizeable traditional leftists. Convergence theory was propounded in the West to get socialism and communism neutralized and immersed in capitalism and that is what has happened in France.


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DR.ABDUL RUFF Colachal
JNU, New Delhi