SEGO AND SARKO FACE-0FF

“Sego” is chic, statuesque and once wore high heels while touring a Beijing slum. “Sarko” is small and has been called “Little Napoleon,” because of his diminutive stature and appetite for power. He has also been compared to “Iznogoud,” pronounced “is no good,” a well known comic book character.
They are Segolene Royal, 53, and Nicholas Sarkozy, 52, the two candidates who emerged victorious from the first round of the French presidential election on April 22. They will now face off on May 6 in a second and final round of voting to decide who will run a country with one of the worst economies in Europe, increasing social unrest and a large, disgruntled Muslim population.
“Sarko,” a conservative and former interior minister with a reputation for toughness captured 30% of the first round vote, leaving his rival with 25%. Two other candidates fell by the way side – Jean Marie Le Pen of the National Front, and Centrist, Francois Bayrou. Le Pen, who polled an amazing 16.8% in the last presidential election and reached the final round, saw his popularity plummet to 11.5%, but Bayrou polled 18.3%. The votes of both these men will be up for grabs and will probably be the deciding factor in who next governs France. This is now a traditional French political battle of the Left versus the Right. However, both candidates will have to appeal to the Center, carefully nuancing their positions because Le Pen’s base may stay away from the final vote convinced the Left and the Right, as represented by “Sego” and “Sarko,” created the problems France now faces.
For the media the election has always been about “Sego” and “Sarko,” two candidates who are ideal media fodder and who are exceedingly ambitious. It has been said of both that they lack clearly defined political agendas but share an insatiable thirst for power. “Sarko” says “Sego” has no political ideas but admits she is formidable and beautiful. He believes her major liability is her husband who is head of the Socialist Party that she represents. In her defense, the French prime minister, Dominique De Villepin has called “Sarko” a “dwarf” who engages in dirty tricks and is a dangerous authoritarian.
Both candidates admire Tony Blair but have different visions of a New France. “Sarko” takes a Thatcherite line on economics, promising tax cuts and an end to the French 35-hour week that has left French workers with one of the lowest output figures in Europe. He promises to be tough on crime, immigration and inner city violence and opposes Turkey’s entry into the EU. Last year, he raised the hackles of the Left when he campaigned against gay marriage and said there should be no public funding for mosques. He is said to be pro-American, even though he opposed the Iraq war, and that he believes France needs to repair relations with the US.
His rival has made no bones about her dislike for George Bush, stating that she would not “kneel” at his feet. That was seen as a political swipe at the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who has formed a close relationship with the US president. On domestic policy, “Sego” presents a confusing agenda, promising a less hard leftist position on the economy while assuring workers their traditional benefits will be protected. She is nevertheless a formidable individual who broke the chauvinist mold of French politics by becoming the first woman to reach the final round of a presidential election. To do that she had to battle against elements in her own party ranks as well as public opinion. Some of her critics have attributed her approval ratings not so much to her campaigning but to an ingrained fear on the Left and in the Center that the Right could dominate the French political scene if not checked. Most observers admit, however, she is more than just a pretty face even though she has had surgery to fix her teeth and is happy to be photographed in a bathing suit on the French Riviera. She so far has graced the front covers of Time and other major magazines.
It is her appealing personal history that has helped draw the French public her way. She was fourth in a family of eight and her father, a colonel in the French army, was not only a strict Catholic but physically abused his wife and children and believed women were born to procreate. He played religious music constantly in the home and made his children go to church every morning and evening. Though “Sego” tends not to talk much about her past she says she knew in her teens that the only way to escape the constant “humiliation” at home was to be successful. She later launched a court challenge against her father when he refused to divorce her mother or pay child support. She also persuaded the rest of her siblings to join her and not to communicate with him. They agreed and won the court battle shortly before he died. Her supporters say all those experiences, as well as the years she spent on the political scene, gave her a toughness that will serve her well if she becomes France’s first female president.
During her election campaign, she has successfully used the Internet and young bloggers to bring her name to a wider public and has toured French towns and villages, arguing that the elite in Paris, or “les elephants” as the old political elites are called, have had too much say in shaping the country Some columnists have said she is France’s version of Hilary Clinton with more style and beauty.
Her opponent, “Sarko,” is no slouch when it comes to making headlines and also has an interesting background. He was born to a Hungarian father and French mother of Greek Jewish origin but was baptized Roman Catholic by his French grandfather who converted to Catholicism after becoming a supporter of French president, Charles De Gaulle. When “Sarko” was four his father left his mother and refused to pay child support. As a consequence, “Sarko” because estranged from his father and says he had to develop an inner strength growing up without a father figure. He became a devout, conservative Catholic and later declared that his heroes were Charles De Gaulle and the late Pope John Paul II.
His supporters and critics agree “le petit Nicholas” as he is often called, is extremely ambitious and has a sharp lawyer’s tongue. In 2005, he described rioters in Paris as the dregs of society and established a reputation for being tough on illegal immigration and crime. When it comes to his career, he is not frightened to sacrifice friendships. In the 1995 presidential election he walked away from his friend, Jacques Chirac and supported his rival. The Chirac family, notably Jacques Chirac’s daughter who dated “Sarko,” was further angered when he walked out of a possible marriage with her. The betrayal led Madame Chirac to comment “To think I saw le petit Nicholas in his underwear.” Jacques Chirac was subsequently quoted in L’Express crudely remarking that “le petit Nicholas penetrated my privacy.”
There was bad blood between “Sarko” and Chirac, the elderly doyen of the French Center Right, when the younger man severely criticized the other’s anti-Americanism at the start of the Iraq invasion in 2003. That later led to “Sarko’s” enemies calling him a potential “Bush stooge.” As a result of his war of words with Chirac, the latter fought to limit his career in French conservative politics but eventually realized that “le petit Nicholas” was not only a shrewd political operator but was more than a match for him. Chirac and his family have since changed their minds and backed him.
For the first time in several decades the French presidential election has encouraged large numbers of French voters to go to the polls and has captured the attention of the rest of Europe and Washington. Now both candidates will have to soften their positions slightly to capture the votes in the Center while not straying too far from their traditional bases. EU leaders recognize that a strong EU needs an economically stable France and not one that is presently second in output per worker to Portugal. For its part, the US hopes that if “Sarko” wins he will soften his stance on Turkey’s bid to join the EU and not scupper ongoing talks on that issue, given that Turkey is an important member of NATO. If Sego, or “La Bella” as she is sometimes called, becomes the first female president of France it could be a sign that female leaders are in vogue. Hilary Clinton take note!