C'etait genial! When applied to the French presidential election in which
Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy beat the Socialist candidate Segolene Royal by
a comfortable margin, it means: that is fantastic!
After decades of socialist influence in France, could the French election be
a precursor to a Margaret Thatcher-like comeback for conservatives? Perhaps.
Though, on foreign policy, Sarkozy is more pro-American than his
predecessor, Jacques Chirac, he is still opposed to the Iraq War and doesn't
want to seem too pro-American since most of the French remain firmly
anti-American. But let's not look a gift horse - French or otherwise - in
the mouth. Any turn away from policies that have hurt the French economy and
threatened its culture with a flood of immigrants who refuse to assimilate
is bound to be an improvement.
Sarkozy may not be a Thatcher (whose 1979 victory in Britain heralded an
economic revitalization) or a Ronald Reagan (ditto in the U.S.), but he vows
to at least begin where they did. Sarkozy wants to "loosen" the 35-hour
workweek by offering tax breaks on overtime in exchange for working longer
hours. He wants to trim fat from the bloated public service sector, cut
taxes and do something to correct high unemployment (currently at about 8.3
percent). France has also suffered from falling living standards and a
decline in industrial might.
Cutting taxes will help create jobs and raise living standards. When such
policies have been implemented in other countries (Ireland, Britain and the
United States) an economic boom has followed. The Conservative victory shows
that the French are ready for that boom.
Sarkozy also sounded a little like Thatcher and Reagan when, during his
campaign, he promised to crackdown on criminals and curb the power of
unions. Unions have been a driving force behind guaranteed jobs that have
kept employers from firing incompetent workers.
The French paid attention to this election. Turnout was 85 percent, a number
that ought to shame the United States, which is lucky to get near 50 percent
in its presidential contests.
Among the most pressing problems for Sarkozy's presidency will be how to
handle its estimated 5 million Muslim immigrants, some of whom shook the
foundations of the country when they rioted in 2005. He will have to be more
rhetorically cautious than during his campaign when he promised to rid
neighborhoods of the "scum" responsible for the troubles. Still, France,
which has the largest Muslim immigrant population in Europe, is faced with a
major challenge to its culture, freedoms, language and everything else that
makes France what it is.