Opinion

We Are All Socialists

Hollande rode to power on a rejection of aggressive Sarkozyism

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We Are All Socialists
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France woke up on May 7 to greet a new president. On his way out was Nicolas Sarkozy, the flamboyant president who had dreamt of putting an end to the “exception francaise” (the unique French way of looking at and doing things), something he had considered archaic. Enter Francois Hollande, the Socialist Party’s candidate, who owes his victory more to a rebuff of Sarkozy’s style of politics rather than to any adherence to his agenda. France didn’t turn socialist overnight. She just wants to be led differently. She aspires to find as head of state someone more classic, venerated and conciliatory, someone less disorganised and overzealous.

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Sarkozy had generated keen interest abroad. Young, dynamic, married to a glamorous former model (Carla Bruni) and hyperactive on the international scene (Europe, Libya...), he had given France a new prominent profile on the global stage. But back home his image was much more controversial. After the initial adulation following his election in 2007, Sarkozy alienated a large section of the public, both from the right and the left. His self-willed grandeur ended up leading us nowhere. To be honest, one must acknowledge that the 2008 international financial crisis left him with little room for manoeuvre. Sarkozy never found the means to put in place ambitious structural reforms that sought to align France along the lines of the Anglo-Saxon model that had been his ideological cornerstone. The “magic” of Sarkozy only ended up in smoke. The left rallied together against a leader often described as the “president of the rich”. And part of the right lost its confidence in a president deemed inefficient.

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This “anti-Sarkozyism” is the main reason for Hollande’s victory. The Socialist Party candidate presented himself as a “normal” person. He even turned this ordinariness into his driving force. Unlike after the election of Francois Mitterrand in 1981, the French left has never harboured any illusions regarding social causes. The electors of Hollande are aware of the financial restrictions imposed by the EU and the global recession. This absence of unrealistic social expectations is a considerable advantage for Hollande. If there were any expectations during these elections, they were of a different kind. The supporters of the new president expect him to soothe France. Sarkozy didn’t hesitate to divide the country, polarise public opinion in order to remobilise the traditional voters of the right. He had thus radicalised his views on immigration and Islam to be able to attract those who voted for Marine Le Pen, the National Front candidate who had amassed an impressive 18 per cent of the votes in the first round. This electoral strategy failed. Many centrists, who traditionally voted for the right, chose to back Hollande to protest Sarkozy’s rightist drift.

What now? What significance does Hollande’s victory have for the daily lives of the French? The main change is that the French social model, both generous and costly, will be less under pressure. But at the same time, the challenges that bear down upon Hollande are severe. He must learn how to handle pressure from the extreme left asking him to distance himself from the European budgetary system. And simultaneously, he also must confront German chancellor Angela Merkel, who would not like to renegotiate European agreements on the handling of public deficit.

Finally, the immigration debate will continue to vitiate public life in France. Hollande has promised to give foreigners the right to vote in municipal elections. The National Front, and sections of the mainstream conservative camp that shares its ideas, will surely try to remobilise themselves when this new law is tabled. It will take a lot of talent for Hollande to overcome all these challenges that await him.

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(Bobin is the South Asia correspondent for the French daily Le Monde, based in New Delhi)

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