Post by RedFlag32 on Apr 23, 2007 9:36:30 GMT
French Election Focuses on 2
By JOHN LEICESTER
The Associated Press
Monday, April 23, 2007; 3:10 AM
PARIS -- Socialist Segolene Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy have two weeks to sell voters on two vastly different visions for France _ at a time when its people are nervous about retaining their prosperity and carving out a viable identity in a rapidly changing world.
Either would be the first French president not to have lived through World War II, a significant generational shift. But the similarities end there.
French socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal waves as she gets into her car in Melle, southwestern France, after delivering a speech following the announcement of the preliminary official results of the election's first round, Sunday, April 22, 2007. Pollsters' projections showed conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal advancing Sunday to a runoff for the French presidency, offering a stark choice of left or right for a nation eager for new direction.
Royal would bring a breezy elegance to the Elysee. She has openly appealed to women voters and says her election as the first French woman president would have no less than "planetary" consequences. On campaign posters the feminine "e" has optimistically been added to read "presidente."
Sarkozy cuts a perhaps less graceful figure, turning off some with naked ambition and sometimes ungainly campaigning. That could cost him in the race for the job once held by Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand, a title that for better or worse bestows on its holder the status of national standard-bearer and symbol of France.
The campaign to date has veered off in directions dictated by the personality politics and tactical calculations of the first round. The runoff may offer a clearer debate on the economic reforms that many see as the key to France's future.
Although Royal is from the opposition Socialists, it is Sarkozy, the candidate of Jacques Chirac's party, who more strongly champions a break with the past, summing up his views with a word that means the same in French as in other languages: "rupture."
Sarkozy wants to free up labor markets and appears willing to scrap some of the social protections that the French have prized. He calls France's 35-hour work week "an absurdity," wants to make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more. He proposes relaxing labor laws to encourage hiring. Work creates wealth that creates jobs, he says.
He generally betrays none of Chirac's disdain for "Anglo-American liberalism," code for a cutthroat capitalism that the French would like to avoid even as they strive to become more globally competitive. But he's no unbridled free-marketer and has shown a protectionist streak.
Sarkozy seems uninterested in Chirac's view of France as a philosophical and political counterweight to the global hegemony of the United States. He is comfortable with America in a way that Royal has not tried to match, and probably could not.
Royal, by comparison, would scrap a relatively timid job reform that made hiring and firing easier for small firms. She argues that public spending on job programs and raising the minimum wage will breathe life into the laggard economy. But she's a pragmatic rather than a dogmatic Socialist, and says the 35-hour work week has had both benefits and drawbacks that she wants to work out.
Business leaders and others who believe that France must reform to avoid economic decline relative to Asia and America both will prefer Sarkozy. People worried about their jobs and many minority voters rattled by Sarkozy's tough views on immigration and crime may opt for Royal.
The crowded field in the first round rendered polls difficult to read. Sarkozy has generally been seen as the front-runner, but the race now is clearly for the center _ the political space that Francois Bayrou tapped well enough to briefly turn the election into a three-way race.
Millions were seduced by Bayrou's anti-establishment message that the only way to revive France was to unite left and right, blaming the divisions for driving the country into decline. Expect Sarkozy and Royal to battle fiercely now to win back his voters, who could swing the May 6 result.
To get past the first round, Sarkozy had veered hard right, with promises to protect France's "national identity." He was looking to sap support from extreme-right anti-immigration zealot Jean-Marie Le Pen.
With Le Pen gone, Sarkozy will likely tack back toward the center. Even if he does, many Le Pen supporters should still line up behind Sarkozy on May 6, not least because they cannot stomach the more immigrant-friendly Royal.
In the end, May 6 could be an unpopularity contest. Both "Sego" and "Sarko" leave sections of the electorate cold _ Royal because she's seen by some to be too inexperienced and gaffe-prone to run a nuclear nation; Sarkozy because he's regarded as a bully who might trample on civil liberties. Both will try to dispel those notions in the days ahead.
By JOHN LEICESTER
The Associated Press
Monday, April 23, 2007; 3:10 AM
PARIS -- Socialist Segolene Royal and conservative Nicolas Sarkozy have two weeks to sell voters on two vastly different visions for France _ at a time when its people are nervous about retaining their prosperity and carving out a viable identity in a rapidly changing world.
Either would be the first French president not to have lived through World War II, a significant generational shift. But the similarities end there.
French socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal waves as she gets into her car in Melle, southwestern France, after delivering a speech following the announcement of the preliminary official results of the election's first round, Sunday, April 22, 2007. Pollsters' projections showed conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal advancing Sunday to a runoff for the French presidency, offering a stark choice of left or right for a nation eager for new direction.
Royal would bring a breezy elegance to the Elysee. She has openly appealed to women voters and says her election as the first French woman president would have no less than "planetary" consequences. On campaign posters the feminine "e" has optimistically been added to read "presidente."
Sarkozy cuts a perhaps less graceful figure, turning off some with naked ambition and sometimes ungainly campaigning. That could cost him in the race for the job once held by Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand, a title that for better or worse bestows on its holder the status of national standard-bearer and symbol of France.
The campaign to date has veered off in directions dictated by the personality politics and tactical calculations of the first round. The runoff may offer a clearer debate on the economic reforms that many see as the key to France's future.
Although Royal is from the opposition Socialists, it is Sarkozy, the candidate of Jacques Chirac's party, who more strongly champions a break with the past, summing up his views with a word that means the same in French as in other languages: "rupture."
Sarkozy wants to free up labor markets and appears willing to scrap some of the social protections that the French have prized. He calls France's 35-hour work week "an absurdity," wants to make overtime pay tax-free to encourage people to work more. He proposes relaxing labor laws to encourage hiring. Work creates wealth that creates jobs, he says.
He generally betrays none of Chirac's disdain for "Anglo-American liberalism," code for a cutthroat capitalism that the French would like to avoid even as they strive to become more globally competitive. But he's no unbridled free-marketer and has shown a protectionist streak.
Sarkozy seems uninterested in Chirac's view of France as a philosophical and political counterweight to the global hegemony of the United States. He is comfortable with America in a way that Royal has not tried to match, and probably could not.
Royal, by comparison, would scrap a relatively timid job reform that made hiring and firing easier for small firms. She argues that public spending on job programs and raising the minimum wage will breathe life into the laggard economy. But she's a pragmatic rather than a dogmatic Socialist, and says the 35-hour work week has had both benefits and drawbacks that she wants to work out.
Business leaders and others who believe that France must reform to avoid economic decline relative to Asia and America both will prefer Sarkozy. People worried about their jobs and many minority voters rattled by Sarkozy's tough views on immigration and crime may opt for Royal.
The crowded field in the first round rendered polls difficult to read. Sarkozy has generally been seen as the front-runner, but the race now is clearly for the center _ the political space that Francois Bayrou tapped well enough to briefly turn the election into a three-way race.
Millions were seduced by Bayrou's anti-establishment message that the only way to revive France was to unite left and right, blaming the divisions for driving the country into decline. Expect Sarkozy and Royal to battle fiercely now to win back his voters, who could swing the May 6 result.
To get past the first round, Sarkozy had veered hard right, with promises to protect France's "national identity." He was looking to sap support from extreme-right anti-immigration zealot Jean-Marie Le Pen.
With Le Pen gone, Sarkozy will likely tack back toward the center. Even if he does, many Le Pen supporters should still line up behind Sarkozy on May 6, not least because they cannot stomach the more immigrant-friendly Royal.
In the end, May 6 could be an unpopularity contest. Both "Sego" and "Sarko" leave sections of the electorate cold _ Royal because she's seen by some to be too inexperienced and gaffe-prone to run a nuclear nation; Sarkozy because he's regarded as a bully who might trample on civil liberties. Both will try to dispel those notions in the days ahead.