Sarkozy, France, the US and Canada

[CougarKing]

The election of Conservative candidate Sarkozy to the Presidency in France supposedly means warmer relations between France and the States. However, what does this mean for Canada as well?  Any thoughts?

(IIRC, aren't we also a member of Le Francophonie- that French-led organization that includes all current and former French colonies in its members, much like we are also a member of the UK Commonwealth)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070506/wl_nm/france_election_dc

[Conservative Sarkozy to be France's next president
By Crispian Balmer
1 hour, 21 minutes ago


PARIS (Reuters) - Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy triumphed in France's presidential election on Sunday, sweeping aside his Socialist rival Segolene Royal on the back of a huge turnout that gave him a strong mandate for reform.
 
Tens of thousands of supporters flooded into central Paris to celebrate the victory which extended the right's 12-year grip on power in France, but also marked the start of a new era Sarkopzy replaces 74-year-old        President Jacques Chirac.

Addressing cheering party faithful, a calm, restrained Sarkozy pledged to represent the entire nation and heal the divisions of a particularly bitter election campaign.

"To all those French who did not vote for me, I want to say that beyond political battles, beyond differences of opinion, for me there is only one France," he said.

With more than three quarters of ballots counted, Sarkozy had won 53.4 percent of the vote against 46.6 percent for Royal. Turnout was some 85 percent -- the highest since 1981.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, presented himself as the "candidate of work," promising to loosen the 35-hour work week by offering tax breaks on overtime and to trim fat from the public service, cut taxes and wage war on unemployment.

Although opinion polls regularly suggested many voters preferred Royal, they saw the uncompromising Sarkozy as a more competent leader with a more convincing economic program.

       European Union leaders congratulated Sarkozy, who promised to put France back into the driving seat of Europe after the country voted down the EU constitution in a 2005 referendum, as well as saying France would be a friend of the United States.

"... Tonight France is back in Europe," he said.

TAKING OFFICE

Sarkozy is expected to take power on May 16 or 17, becoming the first French president to be born after World War Two.

He will then name a new government and launch into campaigning for June's parliamentary election, where he will seek a clear majority to implement his reforms.

"I hope Nicolas Sarkozy's government will include representatives of the center and some men and women of the left," former Labor Minister Francois Fillon, widely expected to be the next prime minister, told TF1 television.

The president is elected for five years, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, nominates the prime minister, has the right to dissolve the National Assembly and is responsible for foreign and defense policies.

Royal started the year as favorite, but a string of gaffes raised persistent doubts over her competency.

Ideological divisions in her own camp also meant she could never enjoy unified party support and Socialist heavyweights said on Sunday the left needed to undergo deep reform.

"We have a collective failure, a failure due to our archaism, a failure due to our non-renewal," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist former finance minister.

It was not clear what role Royal might play in the party.

VIOLENCE

The Socialists portrayed Sarkozy as a danger for France, saying he was authoritarian and likely to exacerbate tensions in the poor, multi-racial suburbs that ring many French cities.

They also accused him of fuelling 2005 suburb riots by promising to rid neighborhoods of what he said were the "scum" responsible for the troubles.

Thousands of extra police have been drafted in to patrol sensitive suburbs on Sunday and a Reuters correspondent in the southeastern city of Lyon reported clashes between police and leftist sympathisers.

By backing Sarkozy, voters showed they wanted a strong leader to resolve France's many problems, including high unemployment of at least 8.3 percent, falling living standards, job insecurity and declining industrial might.

He has promised a clean break with the policies of Chirac, once his political mentor, and says he will curb the powers of the unions and toughen sentencing for criminals.

On foreign policy, Sarkozy is more pro-American than Chirac, and immediately reached out to Washington on Sunday, saying he wanted to be a friend of the United States.

"I want to tell (the U.S.) that friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently, and that a great nation like the United States has the duty to not obstruct the fight against global warming but on the contrary to take the lead," he said.
(Reporting by Paris bureau)

Looks like his election might also more friction to the global warming blame game/debate, if I read the last comment properly.

 

[FredDaHead]

Sarkozy is, at the most basic level, a nationalist leader; while he'll obviously do some foreign policy stuff, I think France will isolate itself for a time. After all, some of the "values" promoted by Sarkozy in his campaign were those of being proud of being French, "controling" (for lack of a better term) immigration, and generally went towards France re-asserting itself on its own. Also, he has a lot to deal with within France, so re-organizing foreign policy might not be that high on his list of priorities. Between the problems created by uncontrolled immigration, various labour problems, and so on, his plate is pretty full on just the domestic level.

I don't foresee relations changing that much in the short term. However, towards the end of his term, relations might start changing for "the better" (ie get warmer).

 

[Mike Baker]

I am even surprised Sarkozy won the election, since it was pretty fairly close between him and Royal, of the Socialist party. Fred has some very good comments, that the French won't get very close to the U.S. until near the end of his five year term. I am not so sure what sort of relations he will have with Canada, better, the same, or worse then they are now. We will just have to waite and see.

 

[FredDaHead]

I am even surprised Sarkozy won the election, since it was pretty fairly close between him and Royal, of the Socialist party.

I don't know how surprising it is really. What I am surprised about is how close it is--53% for Sarkozy according to Radio-Canada--but the end result was expected. While France has a hardcore leftist "clique" and history, the centrists don't see the appeal of a far-left group to lead the country. A "milder" center-left candidate probably would have beat Sarkozy, but a hardcore socialist like Royal didn't stand a chance, especially with her answers in the debate last week.

For those who didn't watch and didn't read about it, the part that best sums up what happened is when she said she would raise the retirement funds. Sarkozy asked her where she would get the money, Royal said she would raise taxes; Sarkozy asked by how much, and Royal had absolutely no idea how much it would cost. Basically, she said she would raise taxes by however much they would need to be raised. That's but one example that sums up how full of holes her program was. Sarkozy has smaller-scope ideas and possible programs, but he has a better orientation as to how he will do things; he just needs to iron out the wrinkles.

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

I find it scary how many votes Royal got.  I watched the clips of the debates and a couple of interviews and she seems quite....well, let's just she lacks control.  I also saw her play the "Well, if you vote Sarkozy, there will be violence" card which reminded of the nonsense the Liberal Party plays here.


Matthew.  :

 

[Cloud Cover]

For those who didn't watch and didn't read about it, the part that best sums up what happened is when she said she would raise the retirement funds. Sarkozy asked her where she would get the money, Royal said she would raise taxes; Sarkozy asked by how much, and Royal had absolutely no idea how much it would cost. Basically, she said she would raise taxes by however much they would need to be raised. That's but one example that sums up how full of holes her program was. Sarkozy has smaller-scope ideas and possible programs, but he has a better orientation as to how he will do things; he just needs to iron out the wrinkles.

Politics is about making choices- it's easier to choose to cut than to choose where to spend.

 

[I_am_John_Galt]

I also saw her play the "Well, if you vote Sarkozy, there will be violence" card which reminded of the nonsense the Liberal Party plays here.

That was no idle threat (ah Paris, the City of Lighting-Up Cars)!

Police hurt in French election violence

By Thierry Leveque and Alexandra SteigradMon May 7, 12:38 PM ET

Hundreds of people were arrested in France overnight in clashes between police and protesters angry over conservative Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in Sunday's presidential election, police said.

Official figures released on Monday said demonstrators set fire to 730 cars and injured 78 policemen across France, with 592 people arrested in the violent protests against the tough-talking former interior minister.

The tally was revised sharply upwards after an initial report appeared to downplay the clashes and was at odds with local police figures and eyewitness reports, which suggested widespread troubles in numerous French cities.

Sarkozy made his name as a law-and-order hardliner who also tightened France's immigration laws, making him a hate figure for the left. Slogans spray-painted on the streets of Paris overnight included "Sarkozy fascist."

Leftist sympathizers clashed with police in and around Paris's Place de la Bastille after Sarkozy's victory against Socialist Segolene Royal and security forces fired tear gas and at least one burst of water cannon to disperse the crowd.

Youths went on the rampage in adjoining streets, smashing phone cabins and shop windows.

"Everyone got hit," said Sophie Wolkowitch, whose pharmacy suffered 14,000 euros ($19,000) of damage.

Similar attacks were reported in the southeastern city of Lyon and the southern city of Toulouse. Bus shelters were smashed in the northern city of Lille and a school was set on fire in the Paris suburb of Evry.

In the northern department clustered around Lille, about 100 cars were torched, the fire brigade said.

In Nantes, 26 people were held for questioning and six police were slightly injured after 1,000 people joined a march against Sarkozy in the western city, said Yves Monard, head of public security of the Loire-Atlantique department.

Cars and shop windows were also damaged in Nantes while to the northwest, in Caen, four police were hurt and an attempt was made to set fire to the local office of Sarkozy's UMP party.

Sarkozy is a particularly controversial figure in France's poor, multi-ethnic suburbs, which were the epicenter of three weeks of rioting in 2005.

At the time Sarkozy branded the troublemakers as scum and Royal said last week that a victory by her opponent would provoke violence in French suburbs.

However, an internal police memo obtained by Reuters said there was no large-scale trouble there.

"The second round of the presidential election did not generate any large demonstrations of urban violence in sensitive neighborhoods," said the memo.

It added that the level of violence was above that usually seen on July 14 Bastille Day, France's national holiday, "but below that of New Year's celebrations."

Police say on an average just over 100 cars are set ablaze in France each night. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070507/wl_nm/france_election_violence_dc&printer=1;_ylt=Au1VRXdIFPpv4Sy_o1nK92tn.3QA

 

[RangerRay]

Official figures released on Monday said demonstrators set fire to 730 cars and injured 78 policemen across France, with 592 people arrested in the violent protests against the tough-talking former interior minister.

No doubt committed by "disenfranchised youth"...  :

Can you imagine this level of violence in a "civilised" nation?  Can you imagine 100 cars being burned every night in Toronto?  If I was a Frenchman, I'd be furious and demanding that the authorities clamped down on this crap!