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Conservative
Sarkozy Wins French Presidential Election |
Posted:
05.07.07
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With record numbers of voters going to the polls, France has
elected as president Nicolas Sarkozy, a conservative leader who
has pledged to improve the European country's economy and get
tough on crime and immigration.
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Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, defeated Socialist
Segolene Royal, the first woman to get this far in a French presidential
election, by 53 percent of the vote to Royal's 47 percent.
 Following
Sunday's run-off election, Sarkozy is set to replace President
Jacques Chirac, who has led France for the past 12 years.
The turnout was high -- 84 percent of the country's 44.5 million
registered voters participated in Sunday's runoff -- levels not
seen in 40 years.
Exit polls, which asked people as they left election sites who
they voted for and why, showed that nearly 49 percent of blue-collar
workers who usually vote for politically left candidates voted
for Sarkozy, the Associated Press reported.
Sarkozy's main message of revitalizing France's stagnating economy
appeared to appeal to such voters, according to the AP. His election
platform also included getting tough on criminals and strengthening
immigration rules.
"Tonight is not a victory on one France over another. For
me there is only one victory, that of democracy," he said
during his victory speech. "The people of France have chosen
change."
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Improving
the economy |
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The main thrust of Sarkozy's argument for improving the French
economy, the sixth biggest in the world, has been to eliminate
the 35-hour workweek to allow people to "work more in order
to get more."
The 35-hour workweek comes from a 2000 French law that states
that after working 35 hours in one week a worker must get overtime
pay. The law's creators hoped that it would help create jobs for
more people and give workers more personal time.
 But
critics, like Sarkozy, say the law has not created more jobs and
should be changed. They claim that companies expect employees
to do more work in less time instead of hiring more workers.
And Sarkozy supporters agreed.
"I'm for liberalizing the labor market and getting rid of
the 35-hour workweek, which is hurting economic growth and limiting
our economic choices and opportunities," Parisian voter Nicolas
Arnault, 25, told the International Herald Tribune.
One bill, proposed by Sarkozy, would make overtime pay tax free
to encourage people to work more, the AP reported.
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Immigration |
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But not everyone in the country was celebrating Sarkozy's victory.
Though not as much as anticipated, demonstrations with a smattering
of violence occurred in parts of the country, including Paris,
Lyons, Marseilles and Bordeaux.
 Many
in France's immigrant community loath the tough-talking politician,
who in 2005 referred to the perpetrators -- many of whom were
blacks and Arabs -- of a three-week wave of rioting over employment
problems as "scum."
Sarkozy has refused to apologize for the comment and has expressed
a commitment to remain tough on crime and to create laws to tighten
criteria for immigrants who want to bring their families to France.
"In theory I should be voting for Sarkozy, as I've got a
really good job," Houari Amraoui, 26, a computer programmer
of Moroccan origin born in France, told the International Herald
Tribune.
"I'm part of the French economy. But Sarkozy is all about
the politics of big money, and the greatest danger for France
is rising inequality, the rich getting richer, the poor getting
poorer," he added.
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Foreign policy |
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As president, Sarkozy's main job will be to handle defense and
foreign policy; though, as a former finance and interior minister,
he has little experience with either.
He reached out to the United States in his acceptance speech,
stressing that it can "count on our friendship," but
he added that "friendship means accepting that friends can
have different opinions."
Under Chirac, France and the United States disagreed sharply
on the war in Iraq and other foreign policy issues. Sarkozy is
seen as much friendlier to U.S. policy and interests.
 He
has adopted U.S.-styled programs like "zero tolerance"
for crime and affirmative action programs for minorities.
Sarkozy also called on the United States to lead the global effort
against climate change, an issue France would make a priority.
"A great nation, like the United States, has a duty not
to block the battle against global warming but -- on the contrary
-- to take the lead in this battle, because the fate of the whole
of humanity is at stake," he said, according to the AP.
In terms of relations with the wider European Union, Sarkozy
has expressed a desire to create an integrated Europe, but warned
of the negative effects of globalization.
"I beseech our European partners to hear the voices of those
who want to be protected," he said.
Sarkozy, expected to take over on May 16, will be the first president
of France born after World War II.
--Compiled
by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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