Archives Bellaciao EN 1999-2016

The Hardline Right Moves into the Élysee Palace - Sarkozy Wins the French Presidential Election

2007-05-11T21:16:00Z

By Jean-Paul Piérot
Presidential Elections. With a record participation rate (85%), the French have given a majority to the UMP candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy (53%).
The news wasn't exactly unexpected, but it still represents a serious shock for millions of French voters, including for the majority of the younger generation, who learnt at 8 pm on Sunday 6 May that Nicolas Sarkozy had been elected to the Élysée Palace, with his 53% victory in the second round of the presidential elections, (…)

- contributions / Edito, Governments, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Pétain to Sarkozy French National Revolution

2007-05-11T02:31:08Z

By JOHN HELLMAN
In his first speech to supporters after his election on May 6, 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy said the time had come for radical change in France : "The French have spoken. They want to break with the old ideas and way of doing things. That's why I'll make certain values honourable again. Work, for example, as well as authority, moral principles and respect."
M. Sarkozy was elected with the overwhelming support of voters over 65, many of whom were fearful of 'civic unrest' France (…)

- contributions / Edito, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Sarkozy set to unleash new French revolution

2007-05-06T04:48:03Z

The right's candidate could canter home in today's election -but that will do little to heal deep divisions still raging in France. As hope for Socialist Segolene Royal slips away, Jason Burke finds a nation polarised
The scruffy streets outside the campaign headquarters of Nicolas Sarkozy, the right-wing candidate apparently set to sweep to power in elections today, were calm. The multi-coloured, multi-ethnic market on the Rue Strasbourg Saint Denis nearby was not. Amid the shoppers (…)

- contributions / Edito, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Cherchez la femme: the mystery of Mme Sarkozy

2007-05-01T06:25:22Z

By John Lichfield in Paris Published: 25 April 2007
The French media is crammed with election coverage but has published, or broadcast, hardly a word on the topic that most obsesses the Paris media- political village.
Eleven days before the second round of the presidential election, a legally-enforced code of silence surrounds the state of relations between the front-runner, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife, Cécilia.
Mme Sarkozy, 49, briefly split with her husband two years ago and then (…)

- contributions / Edito, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Image, Anecdote, and Reality: Why Sarkozy Really Is to Be Feared

2007-04-29T18:28:54Z

or, How LePen Made the Second Round in the Disguise of Sarkozy
By Patricia Alessandrini
I have yet to see a Sarkozy poster in Paris – or even just a sticker with his name on it – that has not been defaced within a few hours of being posted. The fear and resentment here in regard to Sarkozy, especially in working-class neighborhoods, is palpable. The French left credits the record highs in voter enrollment and turnout for the presidential election of April 22 to anti-Sarko sentiment. (…)

- contributions / Edito, Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Where the French left stands and why it needs to defeat Nicolas Sarkozy

2007-04-29T18:25:55Z

After the first round of balloting in the French presidential election, how can we evaluate the political dynamics now at work? Why are we convinced that – whatever our reservations – we must do everything in our power to assure the victory of Ségolène Royal in the second round?
1. In a time of generalized suspicion of politicians and parties, and in spite of a high percentage of undecided voters just before the polling, the very high level of participation (83.7% of registered voters) (…)

- contributions / Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007

French election heralds more battles to come

2007-04-25T11:55:16Z

While much of the media sees the presidential elections as a return to “mainstream” politics in France, the true picture is more complicated, explains Alex Callinicos
siege PCF Etampes
By Alex Callinicos
The first round of the French presidential elections last Sunday was haunted by its counterpart five years ago.
On 21 April 2002 the Nazi leader Jean-Marie Le Pen pushed the Socialist Party prime minister Lionel Jospin into third place and out of the second round.
But on Sunday Le (…)

- contributions / Edito, Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007

Heightened political atmosphere in France sees huge numbers at meetings and rallies

2007-04-25T11:51:21Z

by Jim Wolfreys, in Paris
On the face of it, the results of the French presidential election appear to represent a revival of mainstream parties.
The Socialist Party's Ségolène Royal, Nicolas Sarkozy, the right wing UMP candidate, and François Bayrou, of the centre right UDF, together won around 75 percent of the vote, compared to under 50 percent in 2002.
But this resurgence does not represent renewed political affiliation with the mainstream.
One French poll showed that a third of (…)

- contributions / Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007

French Election Results and Analysis: WHY SARKOZY IS DANGEROUS

2007-04-23T15:31:23Z

by Doug Ireland
Here, direct from France 2 TV News (broadcast live in the States via TV 5, the international francophone channel) are the UPDATED exit poll projections from today's first round of France's two-stage presidential election:
NICOLAS SARKOZY — UMP (conservative) 30.4% SEGOLENE ROYAL — Socialist Party 25% FRANCOIS BAYROU — UDF (centrist) 18.8% JEAN-MARIE LE PEN — Front National (neo-fascist) 11.1%
This means that the Socialist Royal will be in the run-off in two weeks (…)

- contributions / Edito, Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007

The Euro-vision Contest

2007-04-21T08:48:43Z

Presidential candidate Ségolène Royal is officially leading the left in the race for the Elysée. Just don't expect too much from the candidates
There was a period earlier this autumn when European Commission President José Manuel Barroso must have wondered just how many other French presidential hopefuls would come knocking on his office door ahead of their official party nominations. The centre-right frontrunner and current Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's September 8th visit was (…)

- contributions / Edito, Parties, France, FR - Presidential 2007