Wednesday, May 9, 2012

CAUSES OF SARKOZY DEFEAT


With the hyperactivity and "cop-in-chief" attitude, Nicolas Sarkozy was unlike any French president before him. His failure to win a second term is due to different mistakes and an economic crisis. Now France wonders if "Sarko" is really gone for good. Sarkozy is a politician who “doubts nothing, especially not himself,” said Jacques Chirac, who was his first mentor[1].
The main causes of his failure are:
1.      Immigration: uninhibited speech on immigration by Sarkozy, is one of the causes to be failed during the 2012 election; his philosophy was concerned with fighting against immigration, and security.-"We have too many foreigners in our country," said Sarkozy before 2012 election. He continued “Borders are not a bad word” in fact it is concerning with limiting the number of immigrants France takes in, this will be done by cutting down on immigration and strengthen border controls; this philosophy shows how Sarkozy was lying the French population with many contradiction in himself, like in 2006 he was willing to open the door for different person to come in France; he said” dans la france don’t je rêve, tout doit etre les francais, la france aux francais”. Finally the symbolic action (expulsion of small groups of Roma, televised dawn raids, and so on) was stepped up, and the rhetorical assault grew louder, For more understanding his contradiction on the issue of immigration please watch this movie which clarify the contradiction on the speech at Périgueux and speech at Grenoble on the following link (comparison of Sarkozy speeches on 12th October 2006 –Discours de periguex and on 30th July 2010-Discours de Grenoble) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeebsm_nicolas-sarkozy-et-l-immigration-ch_news
2.      Unemployment: Sarkozy wanted the French to “work more to earn more,” to halve unemployment. He did not succeed to achieve that objectives contrary he has failed to control unemployment and 'abandoned industry'.
3.      International relation: Nicolas Sarkozy also believes that he made the right choice by sending the French Army to the Ivory Coast and to Libya in support of the Arab Spring, which he first underestimated. Mr. Sarkozy had led a significant rapprochement between the French and American governments on foreign affairs, joining Washington in promoting harsh new penalties for Iran and playing a leading role in gathering an international coalition to topple the Libyan dictator, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, among other actions[2].
Talking to Africa Nikola sarkozy said “The tragedy of Africa is that the African has never really entered into history... They have never really launched themselves into the future... The African peasant, who for thousands of years has lived according to the seasons, whose life ideal was to be in harmony with nature, only knew the eternal renewal of time... In this imaginary world, where everything starts over and over again, there is room neither for human endeavour, nor for the idea of progress... The problem of Africa... is to be found here. Africa's challenge is to enter to a greater extent into history... It is to realise that the golden age that Africa is forever recalling will not return, because it has never existed.[3]
4.      Economic crisis: Sure, many European economies are in worse shape than the U.S. Countries across the continent are struggling to find ways to cope with the growing financial crisis. From the nationalization of domestic banks to multi-billion cash injections into the capital markets, Europe's politicians, regulators, and market players are trying different approaches to deal with the mounting problems[4].
Comments: Mr. Hollande, in contrast, ran on a promise of rebalancing Europe away from austerity and toward growth, and his narrow victory is seen in Washington as a public rejection of governments imposing strict cuts on battered economies.
5.      Tax reforms: His platform relies on tax rises, mainly on the rich and companies, to fund spending on schools, state-aided job creation and letting those who started work at 18 retire at 60, while simultaneously working towards balancing the budget by 2017. Sarkozy's tax reform hits snag in parliament French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to cut companies' social welfare charges suffered a hitch on Monday with a parliamentary panel rejecting the reform aimed at restoring French firms' flagging international competitiveness. Facing an uphill battle for re-election in an April/May election, Sarkozy wants to push the reform through ahead of the vote, counting on it to help restore his economic credentials, dented by soaring unemployment and a record trade deficit[5].  

Defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy may sound a political warning for Obama

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's defeat could be a bad omen for President Barack Obama.
Sarkozy on Sunday joined a growing list of leaders swept aside by Europe's economic crisis or byausterity measures hated by voters. Some 11 have now fallen, including Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Spain's Jose Louis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Sure, many European economies are in worse shape than the U.S. But there are some similarities, including broad voter skepticism on both sides of the Atlantic that government programs are doing much to spur growth or produce jobs.
Polls show most Americans still think the country remains in recession, even though it technically ended almost three years ago. They also show Republican Mitt Romney leading Obama on handling economic issues.
That's not good for Obama, with the economy still the No. 1 election issue.
Romney often links the president to Europe, suggesting Obama "wants to make us a European-style welfare state."
In Charlotte, N.C., Romney recently quipped that Obama won't stand alongside Greek columns at this year's Democratic convention as he did in 2008. "He's not going to want to remind anyone of Greece, because he's put us on a road to become more like Greece." Charlotte hosts the Democrats in September.
North Carolina, Indiana and West Virginia hold Republican primaries Tuesday, with Romney expected to sweep all three in his march toward the Republican presidential nomination.
The Europeanization of Obama is a Republican attempt to distance him from his own country. Never mind that government programs in Europe have little in common with Obama's, that Republican budgets propose more austerity than Obama's or that Sarkozy was beaten by a real socialist.
The president's re-election campaign is fighting back by portraying America on the rise under Obama. "We're not there yet. It's still too hard for many. But we're coming back," says an Obama television ad released Monday[6].

Change in Paris May Better Fit U.S. Economic Positions

With the victory of the Socialist candidate,François Hollande, in the French presidential election, the White House has lost one of its closest allies on the Continent, but perhaps gained one with economic policy beliefs more closely aligned with its own.
Mr. Hollande is virtually unknown in Washington, and his policy positions on both domestic and international affairs remain only lightly sketched out. That is in stark contrast to the departing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose frequent discussions with and ardent defense of the White House earned him the nickname “Sarko the American” back home.
But in the past few months, Mr. Sarkozy has parted from the White House in his support of the German-led austerity project in the debt-soaked euro zone, a project that the White House objects to on the grounds that cutting budgets too soon will lead to sluggish growth and high unemployment across Europe without satisfying the demands of skittish bond investors; more info on http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/world/europe/hollandes-economic-policy-may-better-suit-the-us.html?_r=1&ref=europeansovereigndebtcrisis.


         Prepared by Jean Paul
         On 09th May 2012

No comments:

Post a Comment