'Nicolas Sarkozy' ( â ), (born ''Nicolas Paul StĂ©phane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa'' on
28 January,
1955 in
Paris, France) is the current
President of France, elected on
6 May,
2007 after defeating
Socialist Party contender
SĂ©golĂšne Royal during the second round of the
2007 election. Before his presidency, he was leader of the
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) right wing party. Under
Jacques Chirac's presidency, he served as the
Minister of the Interior in
Jean-Pierre Raffarin (UMP)'s first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed
Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004-May 2005), and again Minister of the Interior in
Dominique de Villepin's government (2005-2007). Sarkozy was also president of the
General council of the
Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and
mayor of
Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest
commune of France from 1983 to 2002. Furthermore, he was also
Minister of the Budget in
Edouard Balladur (
RPR, predecessor of the UMP)'s government during
Chirac's first term.
Sarkozy is known for his strong stance on
law and order issues
[1] and his desire to revitalise the
French economy.
[2]
In
foreign affairs, he has promised closer cooperation with the
United States.
[3] His nickname "Sarko" is used by both supporters and opponents.
Personal life
Family background
Nicolas Sarkozy is the son of a rich Hungarian immigrant father, Pål Sårközy de Nagy-Bócsa
[4] (
Hungarian: nagybócsai Sårközy Pål; some sources spell it Nagy-Bócsay Sårközy Pål; ), and a mother of
French and
Ottoman Sephardic Jewish descent, Andrée Mallah
[Sarkozy's Jewish roots ''Australian Jewish News'' May 8, 2007].
Pål Sårközy was born in 1928 in
Budapest into a family belonging to the lower nobility of Hungary. The family possessed lands and a small castle in the village of
AlattyĂĄn, near
Szolnok, 92 km (57 miles) east of Budapest.
[1] Pål Sårközy's father and grandfather held elective offices in the town of Szolnok. Although the Sårközy de Nagy-Bócsa (nagybócsai Sårközy) family was
Protestant, Pål Sårközy's mother, Katalin Tóth de Csåford (
Hungarian: csĂĄfordi TĂłth Katalin), grandmother of Nicolas Sarkozy, was from a Catholic aristocratic family.
As the
Red Army entered
Hungary in 1944, the Sårközy family fled to Germany
[5]. They returned in 1945 but all their possessions had been seized. Pål Sårközy's father died soon afterwards and his mother, fearing that he would be drafted into the Hungarian People's Army or sent to
Siberia, urged him to leave the country and promised she would eventually follow him and meet him in Paris. Pål Sårközy managed to flee to Austria and then Germany while his mother reported to authorities that he had drowned in
Lake Balaton. Eventually, he arrived in
Baden Baden, near the French border, where the headquarters of the
French Army in Germany were located, and there he met a recruiter for the
French Foreign Legion. He signed up for five years, and was sent for training to
Sidi Bel Abbes, in
French Algeria, where the French Foreign Legion's headquarters were located. He was due to be sent to
Indochina at the end of training, but the doctor who checked him before departure, who happened to also be Hungarian, sympathised with him and gave him a medical discharge to save him from possible death at the hands of the
Vietminh. He returned to civilian life in
Marseille in 1948 and, although he asked for French citizenship only in the 1970s (his legal status was that of a
stateless person until then), he nonetheless
gallicised his Hungarian name into "Paul Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa". He met Andrée Mallah, Nicolas Sarkozy's mother, in 1949.
Andrée Mallah, then a law student, was the daughter of Benedict Mallah, a wealthy
urologist and
STD specialist with a well-established reputation in the mainly bourgeois
17th arrondissement of Paris. Benedict Mallah, originally called Aaron Mallah and nicknamed Benico, was born in 1890 in the
Sephardic Jewish community of
Salonica (Thessaloniki),
Ottoman Empire, which at the time had a Jewish majority. According to Jewish
genealogical societies, the Mallah family of Salonica anciently came from
Spain which they had left in
1492 when the
Catholic Monarchs had
expelled the Jews. Resettled in
Provence, southern France, the family had moved to Salonica a century later. Benico Mallah, the son of a jeweler, left Salonica, then part of the
Ottoman Empire, with his mother in 1904 at the age of 14 to attend the prestigious
Lycée Lakanal boarding school of
Sceaux, in the southern suburbs of
Paris. He studied medicine after his
baccalaureate and decided to stay in France and become a French citizen. A doctor in the
French Army during
World War I, he met a recent war widow, AdĂšle Bouvier (1891â1956), from a bourgeois family of
Lyon, whom he married in 1917. AdĂšle Bouvier, Nicolas Sarkozy's grandmother, was a Catholic like the majority of French people. Mallah, for whom religion had reportedly never been a central issue, converted to Catholicism upon marrying AdĂšle Bouvier, which had been requested by AdĂšle's parents, and changed his name to Benedict. Although Benedict Mallah converted to Catholicism, he and his family nonetheless had to flee Paris and take refuge in a small farm in
CorrĂšze during
World War II to avoid being arrested and delivered to the Germans. During
the Holocaust, many of the Mallahs who stayed in Salonica or moved to France were deported to concentration and extermination camps. In total, 57 family members were murdered by the
Nazis.
Paul Sarkozy and Andrée Mallah settled in the 17th arrondissement in Paris and had three sons: Guillaume, born in 1951, who is an entrepreneur in the textile industry, Nicolas, born in 1955 and François, born in 1957 (an MBA and manager of a healthcare consultancy company [2]). In 1959 Paul Sarkozy left his wife and his three children. He later remarried twice and had two more children with his second wife.
Early life
During Sarkozy's childhood, his father refused to give his former wife's family any financial help, even though he had founded his own advertising agency and had become wealthy. The family lived in a small mansion owned by Sarkozy's grandfather, Benedict Mallah, in the 17th Arrondissement. The family later moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of the Ăle-de-France ''rĂ©gion'' immediately west of the 17th Arrondissement just outside of Paris. According to Sarkozy, his staunchly Gaullist grandfather was more of an influence on him than his father, whom he rarely saw. His grandfather, a Sephardi Jew by birth, was a convert to Catholicism, and Sarkozy was, accordingly, raised in the Catholic faith of his household. Nicolas Sarkozy, like his brothers, is a baptised and professing Catholic. Sarkozy also said recently that one of his role models was the late pope John Paul II.
Sarkozy's father Paul did not teach him or his brothers Hungarian. There is no evidence suggesting that there was an attempt to educate the Sarkozy siblings about their paternal ethnic background.
Sarkozy has said that having been abandoned by his father shaped much of who he is today. As a young boy and teenager, he felt inferior in relation to his wealthy classmates.[6] He suffered from insecurities (his physical shortness or his family's lack of money, at least relatively to their 17th Arrondissement or Neuilly neighbours), and is said to have harboured a considerable amount of resentment against his absent father. "What made me who I am now is the sum of all the humiliations suffered during childhood", he said later.[6]
Education
Sarkozy was enrolled in the ''LycĂ©e Chaptal'', a state-funded (public) middle and high school in the 8th arrondissement, where he failed his ''sixiĂšme'' (equivalent to sixth grade in the US and Year 7 in England and Wales). His family then sent him to the ''Cours Saint-Louis de Monceau'', a private Catholic middle and high school in the 17th arrondissement, where he was reportedly a mediocre pupil[8], but where he nonetheless obtained his ''baccalaurĂ©at'' in 1973. He enrolled at the '', where he read law and graduated with a master's degree in Business law. Paris X - Nanterre had been the starting place for the May '68 student movement and was still a strong berth for leftist student unions. Although described as a quiet student, Sarkozy soon joined the right-wing union of the university where he was very active. After graduating, he failed an entrance exam for the ''Institut d'Ătudes Politiques de Paris'' due to an insufficient command of the English language.[9] After passing the bar exam, he became a lawyer specializing in French business law and family law.[10]
Marriages, divorce and separation
On 23 September 1982, he married Marie-Dominique Culioli, daughter of a pharmacist from Vico (a village north of Ajaccio, Corsica). They have two sons, Pierre (born in 1985) and Jean (born in 1987). Sarkozy's marriage witness was the prominent right wing politician Charles Pasqua, later to become a political opponent. Sarkozy divorced Culioli in 1996, although they had already been separated for several years.
As mayor of Neuilly, Sarkozy met Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz (great-granddaughter of composer Isaac Albéniz and of a Russian father), when he officiated at her wedding[11][12] to TV host Jacques Martin. She is a former fashion model and public relations executive. In 1988, Ciganer-Albeniz left her husband for Sarkozy, and divorced Martin one year later. Sarkozy married her in October 1996 (with witnesses Martin Bouygues and Bernard Arnault). They have one son, Louis, born April 23 1997.
Between 2002 and 2005, the couple often appeared together on public occasions, with Ciganer-Albeniz acting as the chief aide for her husband.[13] On 25 May 2005, however, the Swiss newspaper ''Le Matin'' revealed that Ciganer-Albeniz had left Sarkozy for French-Moroccan national Richard Attias, head of Publicis in New York.[14] There were other accusations of a private nature in ''Le Matin''. This led Sarkozy to sue the paper. In the meantime, he is said to have had an affair with a journalist of ''Le Figaro'', Anne Fulda.[15]
In January 2006, a reconciliation with Ciganer-Albeniz took place.[16] In early 2006, Sarkozy suggested to the press that he had welcomed Ciganer-Albeniz back from the USA, although the exact circumstances of the reconciliation are not known.[17]
Personal wealth
Nicolas Sarkozy at Casa Rosada (Argentinan presidency), 9 February 2007
Sarkozy declared to the Constitutional Council a net worth of âŹ2 million, most of the assets being in the form of life insurance policies. [18] As the French President, he earns a yearly salary of ⏠81,012 and is entitled to a mayoral pension because he was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine until 2002. He also receives a yearly council pension, because he has been previously a member of the council of the Hauts-de-Seine department.
Member of National Assembly
Sarkozy is generally recognised by the right and left as a highly skilled politician and striking orator [19]. His supporters within France emphasise his charisma, political innovation and willingness to "make a dramatic break" amidst mounting disaffection against "politics as usual"; some see him as wanting to depart from traditional French social and economic principles in favour of American-style economic reform. Overall, he is generally considered to be somewhat more pro-U.S. than most French politicians.
Since November 2004, Sarkozy has been president of the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), France's major right political party, and he was Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin, with the honourific title of Minister of State, making him effectively the number three man in the French State after President Jacques Chirac and the prime minister. His ministerial responsibilities included law enforcement and working to co-ordinate relationships between the national and local governments, as well as Minister of Worship (in this guise he created the CFCM, French Council of Muslim Faith). Previously, he was a deputy to the French National Assembly. He was forced to resign this position in order to accept his ministerial appointment. He previously also held several ministerial posts, including Finance Minister.
In government
Nicolas Sarkozy with George W. Bush
Sarkozy's political career began at the age of 22, when he became a city councillor in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a wealthy and exclusive western suburb of Paris (in the Hauts-de-Seine ''département''). A member of the Neo-Gaullist party RPR, he went on to be elected mayor of that town, after the death of the incumbent mayor Achille Peretti. Sarkozy had been close to Peretti, as his mother was Peretti's secretary. The senior RPR politician in the time, Charles Pasqua, wanted to become mayor, and asked Sarkozy to organise his campaign. Instead Sarkozy profited from a short illness of Pasqua to propel himself into the office of mayor.[20] He was the youngest ever mayor of any town in France with a population of over 50,000. He served from 1983 to 2002. In 1988, he became a deputy in the National Assembly.
In 1993, Sarkozy was in the national news for personally negotiating with the âHuman Bombâ, a man who had taken small children hostage in a kindergarten in Neuilly. The âHuman Bombâ was killed after two days of talks by policemen of the RAID, who entered the school stealthily while the attacker was resting.
From 1993 to 1995, he was Minister for the Budget and spokesman for the executive in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ădouard Balladur. Throughout most of his early career, Sarkozy had been seen as a protĂ©gĂ© of Jacques Chirac. During his tenure, he increased France's public debt more than any other French Budget Minister except his predecessor, by the equivalent of 200 bn EUR (which equals $260 bn) (FY1994-1996). The first two budgets he submitted to the parliament (budgets for FY1994 and FY1995) assumed a yearly budget deficit equivalent to 6% of GDP.[21] According to the Maastricht Treaty, the French yearly budget deficit may not be bigger than 3% of France's GDP.
However, in 1995 he spurned Chirac and backed Balladur for President of France. After Chirac won the election, Sarkozy lost his position as Minister for the Budget and found himself outside the circles of power. It is widely believed that ever since 1995 Chirac has considered Sarkozy's siding with Balladur as treason, and that the two men now loathe one another.
However, he came back after the right-wing defeat at the 1997 parliamentary election, as number 2 of the RPR. When the party leader Philippe SĂ©guin resigned, in 1999, he took the lead of the Neo-Gaullist party. But it obtained its worst result at the 1999 European Parliament election, winning 12.7% of the votes, less than the dissident Rally for France of Charles Pasqua. Sarkozy lost the RPR leadership.
In 2002, however, after his re-election as President of the French Republic (see French presidential election, 2002), Chirac appointed Sarkozy as French Minister of the Interior in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, despite the widely acknowledged friction between the two. Following Jacques Chirac's 14th of July keynote speech on road safety Sarkozy as interior minister pushed through new legislation leading to the mass purchase of speed cameras and a campaign to increase the awareness of dangers on the roads.
Following the cabinet reshuffle of 31 March 2004, Sarkozy was moved to the position of Finance Minister. Tensions continued to build between Sarkozy and Chirac and within the UMP party, as Sarkozy's intentions of becoming head of the party after the resignation of Alain JuppĂ© became clear. It became increasingly apparent that Sarkozy would go on to seek the presidency in 2007; in an often-repeated comment made on television channel France 2, when asked by a journalist whether he thought about the presidential election when he shaved in the morning, Sarkozy commented, ânot just when I shaveâ.[22]
In November 2004 after party elections, Sarkozy became leader of the UMP with 85% of the vote. In accordance with an agreement with Chirac, he resigned his position as minister. Sarkozy's ascent was marked by the division of UMP between ''sarkozystes'', such as Sarkozy's âfirst lieutenantâ, Brice Hortefeux, and Chirac loyalists, such as Jean-Louis DebrĂ©.
Sarkozy was made Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by President Chirac in February 2005. He was re-elected on 13 March 2005 to the National Assembly (as required by the constitution,[23] he had had to resign as a deputy when he had become minister in 2002).
On 31 May 2005 the main French news radio station ''France Info'' reported a rumour that Sarkozy was to be reappointed Minister of the Interior in the government of Dominique de Villepin without resigning from the UMP leadership. This was confirmed on 2 June 2005, when the members of the government were officially announced.
First term as Minister of the Interior
Towards the end of his first term as Minister of the Interior, in 2004, Sarkozy was the most popular and also the most unpopular conservative politician in France, according to polls conducted at the beginning of 2004. His âtough on crimeâ policies, which included increasing the police presence on the streets and introducing monthly crime performance ratings, were popular with many and unpopular for many others. However, he was criticised for putting forward legislation which can be questioned as an infringement on civil rights, and adversely affected disadvantaged sections of the population.
Sarkozy has sought to ease the sometimes tense relationships between the general French population and the Muslim community. Unlike the Catholic Church in France with their official leaders or Protestants with their umbrella organisations, the French Muslim community had a lack of structure with no group that could legitimately deal with the French government on their behalf. Sarkozy felt that the foundation of such an organisation was desirable. He supported the foundation in May 2003 of the private non-profit Conseil français du culte musulman (âFrench Council of the Muslim Faithâ), an organisation meant to be representative of French Muslims.[24] In addition, Sarkozy has suggested amending the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, mostly in order to be able to finance mosques and other Muslim institutions with public funds[25] so that they are less reliant on money from outside of France.
Minister of Finance
During his short appointment as Minister of Finance, Sarkozy was responsible for introducing a number of policies. The degree to which this reflected ''libéralisme'' (a hands-off approach to running the economy) or more traditional French state ''dirigisme'' (intervention) is controversial. He resigned the day following his election as president of the UMP.
★ In September 2004, Sarkozy oversaw the reduction of the government ownership stake in France TĂ©lĂ©com from 50.4% to 41%.[26]
★ Sarkozy backed a partial nationalisation of the engineering company Alstom decided by his predecessor when the company was exposed to bankruptcy in 2003.[27]
★ Sarkozy reached in June an agreement with the major retail chains in France to concertedly lower prices on household goods by an average of 2%; the success of this measure is disputed, with studies suggesting that the decrease was close to 1% in September.[28]
★ Taxes: Sarkozy avoided taking a position on the ISF (solidarity tax on wealth). This is considered an ideological symbol by many on the Left and Right. Some in the business world and on the Liberal Right, such as Alain Madelin, wanted it abolished. For Sarkozy, that would have risked being categorised by the Left as a gift to the richest classes of society at a time of economic difficulties.[29] So Sarkozy preferred reducing the ISF with the ''bouclier fiscal''.
Villepin government
Second term as Minister of the Interior
During his second term at the Ministry of the Interior, Sarkozy was initially more discreet about his ministerial activities: instead of focusing on his own topic of law and order, many of his declarations addressed wider issues, since he was expressing his opinions as head of the UMP party.
Main articles: Response to the 2005 civil unrest in France
However, the civil unrest in autumn 2005 put law enforcement in the spotlight again. Sarkozy was accused of having provoked the unrest by calling young delinquents from housing projects "rabble" ''("racaille")'' in Argenteuil near Paris. After the accidental death of two youths, which sparked the riots, Sarkozy first blamed it on "hoodlums" and gangsters. These remarks were sharply criticised by many on the left wing and by a member of his own government, Delegate Minister for Equal Opportunities Azouz Begag.[30]
After the rioting, he made a number of announcements on future policy: selection of immigrants, greater tracking of immigrants, and a reform on the 1945 ordinance government justice measures for young delinquents.
Action as UMP's leader
Sarkozy in 2006
Before he was elected French President, Sarkozy was president of UMP, the French conservative party, elected with 85% of the vote. During his presidency, the number of members has significantly increased. In 2005, he supported a "yes" vote in the French referendum on the European Constitution but the "No" vote won.
Throughout 2005, Sarkozy became increasingly vocal in calling for radical changes in France's economic and social policies. These calls culminated in an interview with ''Le Monde'' on 8 September 2005, during which he claimed that the French had been misled for 30 years by false promises, and denounced what he considers to be unrealistic policies.[31] Among other issues:
★ he called for a simplified and âfairerâ taxation system, with fewer loopholes and a maximum taxation rate (all ''direct'' taxes combined) at 50% of revenue;
★ he approved measures reducing or denying social support to unemployed workers who refuse work offered to them;
★ he pressed for a reduction in the budget deficit, claiming that the French state has been living off credit for some time.
Such policies are what are called in France ''libéral'' (that is, in favour of laissez-faire economic policies, although this judgment is made by French standards) or, with a pejorative undertone, ''ultra-libéral''. Sarkozy rejects this label of ''libéral'' and prefers to call himself a pragmatist instead. Besides his dirigisme on economical subjects is far from laissez-faire politics.
Sarkozy opened another avenue of controversy by declaring that he wanted a reform of the immigration system, with quotas designed to admit the skilled workers needed by the French economy. He also wants to reform the current French system for foreign students, saying that it enables foreign students to take open-ended curricula in order to obtain residency in France; instead, he wants to select the best students to the best curricula in France.
In early 2006, the French parliament adopted a controversial bill known as DADVSI, which reforms French copyright law. Since his party was divided on the issue, Sarkozy stepped in and organised meetings between various parties involved. Later, groups such as the Odebi League and EUCD.info alleged that Sarkozy personally and unofficially supported certain amendments to the law, which enacted strong penalties against designers of peer-to-peer systems.
Candidacy for President
Main articles: French presidential election, 2007
Nicolas Sarkozy meeting his supporters in Toulouse for the 2007 French presidential election.
On 14 January 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy was chosen by the UMP to be its candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy, who was running unopposed, won 98% of the votes. Of the 327,000 UMP members who could vote, 69% participated in the online ballot.[32]
In February 2007 Sarkozy appeared on a televised debate on TF1 where he expressed his support for affirmative action for minorities and the freedom to work overtime. Despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, he advocated civil unions and the possibility for same-sex partners to inherit under the same regime as married couples. The law has been voted in July 2007[33].
On 7 February, Nicolas Sarkozy finally decided in favour of a projected second, non-nuclear, aircraft carrier for the national Navy (adding to the nuclear ''Charles de Gaulle''), during an official visit in Toulon with Defence Minister MichĂšle Alliot-Marie. "This would allow permanently having an operational ship, taking into account the constraints of maintenance", he explained.[34]
On 21 March, President Jacques Chirac announced his support for Sarkozy, adding that he had his vote. Chirac pointed out that Sarkozy had been chosen as presidential candidate for the ruling UMP party, and said: "So it is totally natural that I give him my vote and my support." To focus on his campaign, Sarkozy stepped down as interior minister on 26 March.[35]
During the campaign, rival candidates had accused Sarkozy of being a "candidate for brutality" and of presenting overly hardline views about France's future.[36] He was also criticised by opponents for allegedly courting conservative voters in policy-making in a bid to capitalise on right-wing sentiments among some communities. However, his popularity was sufficient to see him polling as the frontrunner throughout the later campaign period, consistently ahead of rival Socialist candidate, the tuttler[3], SĂ©golĂšne Royal.
The first round of the presidential election was held on 22 April 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy came in first with 31.18% of the votes, ahead of SĂ©golĂšne Royal of the Socialists with 25.87%. In the second round, Sarkozy came out on top to win the election with 53.06% of the votes ahead of SĂ©golĂšne Royal with 46.94%. In his speech immediately following the announcement of the election results, Sarkozy stressed the need for France's modernisation, but also called for national unity, mentioning that Royal was in his thoughts. In that speech, he claimed âThe French have chosen to break with the ideas, habits and behaviour of the past. I will restore the value of work, authority, merit and respect for the nation.â
Presidency (2007â)
Main articles: Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy
On May 16, 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth President of the French Fifth Republic. (He is also the 23rd President in the history of the French Republic, but Presidents of France prior to the Fifth Republic with the notable exception of Napoléon the Third had no significant political power.)
The official transfer of power from Jacques Chirac took place on 16 May at 11:00 am (9:00 UTC) at the ĂlysĂ©e Palace, where he was given the authorization codes of the French nuclear arsenal and presented with the Grand Master's Collar, symbol of his new function of Grand Master of the Legion of Honour. At that point, he formally became president. ''Leyenda'', by Spanish composer Isaac AlbĂ©niz was played in honour of the president's wife, who is Albeniz's great-granddaughter. Both Sarkozy's mother AndrĂ©e, who sat on a regal chair, and his formerly estranged father Palâwith whom Sarkozy had reached a reconciliation--attended the ceremony, as did Sarkozy's children.[37]
The presidential motorcade, with the President on board the presidential Peugeot 607 Paladine[38], then travelled from the ĂlysĂ©e to the Champs-ĂlysĂ©es for a public ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. Then the new president went to the Cascade du Bois de Boulogne of Paris for a homage to the French Resistance and to the Communist resistant Guy MĂŽquet — he proposed that all high-school students read Guy Moquet's last letter to his parents, which was criticised by a number of leftists as a cynical form of reappropriation of French history by the right[39][40][41][42].
In the afternoon, the new President flew to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was replaced by François Fillon.[43] Sarkozy appointed Bernard Kouchner, the left-wing founder of MĂ©decins Sans FrontiĂšres, as his foreign minister, leading to Kouchner's expulsion from the Socialist Party. In addition to Kouchner, three more Sarkozy ministers are from the left, including Eric Besson, who served as SĂ©golĂšne Royal's economic adviser at the beginning of her campaign. Sarkozy also appointed seven women to form a total cabinet of 15; one, Justice Minister Rachida Dati, is the first woman of Northern African origin to serve in a French cabinet. Of the 15, only two attended the elite Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA).[44] The ministers were reorganised, with the controversed creation of a Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-Development — given to his right-hand man Brice Hortefeux — and of a Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Administration — handed out to Ăric WĆrth, supposed to prepare the replacement of only a third of all civil servants who retire.
Shortly after taking office, President Sarkozy began negotiations with Colombian president Ălvaro Uribe and the left-wing guerrilla FARC, regarding the release of hostages held by the rebel group, especially Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. According to some sources, Sarkozy himself asked for Uribe to release FARC's "chancellor" Rodrigo Granda.
[45]. Furthermore, he announced on 24 July, 2007, that French and European representatives had obtained the extradition of the Bulgarian nurses detained in Lybia to their country. In exchange, he signed with Gaddafi security, health care and immigration pacts — and a $230 million (168 million euros) MILAN antitank missile sale [ Molly Moore, France's Sarkozy Off to a Running Start, ''Washington Post'', August 4, 2007 ]. The contract was the first made by Lybia since 2004, and was negotiated with MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS. Another 128 millions euros contract would have been signed, according to Tripoli, with EADS for a TETRA radio system. The Socialist Party (PS) and the Communist Party (PCF) criticised a "state affair" and a "barter" with a "Rogue state" [46]. The leader of the PS, François Hollande, requested the opening of a parliamentary investigation [.]
On June 8, 2007, during the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Sarkozy set a goal of reducing French CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050 in order to prevent global warming. He then pushed forward the important Socialist figure of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as European nominee to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [47]. Critics alleged that Sarkozy proposed to nominate Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF to deprive the Socialist Party of one of its more popular figures[48].
The UMP, Sarkozy's party, won a majority at the June 2007 legislative election, although by less than expected. In July, the UMP majority, seconded by the ''Nouveau Centre'', approved one of Sarkozy's electoral promise, which was to quasi-suppress the inheritance tax.[49][50] The inheritance tax used to bring eight billion euros into state coffers.[51]
After winning the election, Sarkozy's UMP majority has decreased taxes, in particular for upper middle-class people, allegedly in a effort to boost GDP growth, but did not reduce state expenditures . He was criticised by the European Commission for doing so. Furthermore, Sarkozy cut with the custom of amnestying traffic tickets and of releasing thousands of prisoners from overcrowded jails on Bastille Day, a tradition that Napoleon had started in 1802 to commemorate the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution [ Molly Moore, France's Sarkozy Off to a Running Start, ''Washington Post'', August 4, 2007 ]
Sarkozy then went in vacation to the United States, taking his family to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He was expected to stay in the 11-bathroom shorefront mansion of former Microsoft executive Michael Appe [. He shortened however his vacations after the death of Cardinal Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, whose funeral he was to attend [52].]
Sarkozy's government issued a decree on 7 August, 2007 to generalise a voluntary biometric profiling program of travellers in airports. The program, called ''Parafes'', was to use fingerprints. The new database would be interconnected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) as well as with a national database of wanted persons (FPR). The CNIL protested against this new decree, opposing itself to the recording of fingerprints and to the interconnection between the SIS and the FPR [ Généralisation du fichage biométrique volontaire des voyageurs dans les aéroports français, ''Le Monde'', 8 August 2007 ].
Main members of Sarkozy's staff
★ General secretary - Claude GuĂ©ant [53]
★ Chief of the private military staff - Vice-amiral d'escadre Ădouard Guillaud
★ Special advisor to the President - Henri Guaino
★ Advisors to the President - Raymond Soubie and Catherine PĂ©gard
★ Diplomatic advisor and sherpa - Jean-David Levitte
★ Deputy secretary general - François PĂ©rol.
★ Head of cabinet - Emmanuelle Mignon
★ Advisors to the Presidency - Georges Marc Benamou, Arnold Munnich and Patrick Ouart
★ Spokesman - David Martinon
★ Head of cabinet - CĂ©dric Goubet
Image of Sarkozy
It has been asserted that Sarkozy carefully controls his public image. He was named the 68th best dressed person by the US magazine ''Vanity Fair'', alongside David Beckham and Brad Pitt.[54] Beside publicizing, at times, and at others, refusing to publicise his wife's image,[55] Sarkozy takes care of his own personal image, sometimes to the point of censoring (such as in the ''Paris Match'' affair, when he allegedly forced its director to resign following an article on Cécilia and her affair with Publicis executive Richard Attias, or pressures exercised on the ''Journal du dimanche'', which was preparing to publish an article concerning Cécilia's decision not to vote in the second round of the 2007 presidential election.[56] In its August 9, 2007 edition, ''Paris Match'' retouched a photo of Sarkozy in order to erase a love handle.[57][58][59] His official portrait destined for all French townhalls was done by SIPA photographer Philippe Warrin, better known for his paparazzi work.[ Chloé Leprince, Pour le nouveau Président, la rupture commence par l'image, ''Rue 89'', 21 August 2007 ]
Former ''Daily Telegraph'' journalist Colin Randall has however highlighted Sarkozy's tighter control of his image and frequents interventions in the media: "he censors a book, or fires the chief editor of an hebdomary."
Controversies
Generally speaking, Sarkozy is a '' of the Left, and is also criticised by some on the right, most vocally by the supporters of Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin, such as Jean-Louis Debré.[60][61]
Critics have accused him of being an authoritarian demagogue, ready to trade away civil liberties for political gains.[62] Some of these accusations are echoed by French civil rights organisations. He is also accused by the Left of being a populist who favours far-right ideas.[63]
Since his famous ''
KĂ€rcher'' remark, Nicolas Sarkozy has been lampooned about his fondness for cleaning out the riff-raff; here, electoral posters of Sarkozy were posted on a KĂ€rcher car wash
''KĂ€rcher'' remark
In the midst of a tense period and following a shooting that killed an 11-year-old boy in the ''banlieue'' of La Courneuve in June 2005, Sarkozy quoted a local resident and vowed to clean the area out âwith a KĂ€rcherâ (''nettoyer la citĂ© au KĂ€rcher'', KĂ€rcher being a well-known brand of pressure cleaning equipment), and two days before the 2005 ''Paris riots'' he referred to the youth of the housing projects as ''voyous'' (thugs) and ''racaille'', a slang term which can be translated into English as ''rabble'', ''scum'' or ''riff-raff'', [64] this being criticised as being inadequate language.[65][66]
Separation of powers
As Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy has made bold statements following heinous crimes reported in the media. As a consequence, he has been accused in certain cases of failing to respect the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary by trying to apply pressure in certain cases. Most famously, he was criticised, not only by the left-wing ''Syndicat de la magistrature'' judges' union, but also by the centrist ''Union syndicale des magistrats'' for attacks on the independence of the judiciary.[67]
In September 2005 some youths were acquitted of an arson attack on a police station in Pau for lack of proof and Sarkozy was accused of having pushed for a hasty inquiryâSarkozy had vowed that the perpetrators would be arrested within three months.[68] On 22 June 2005, he announced to law enforcement officials that he had questioned the Minister of Justice about the future of âthe judgeâ who had freed a man on parole, enabling him to commit a murder.[69] These comments were criticised by both moderate and left-wing magistrates since the decision had been made by three judges.
Sarkozy has personal friendships with some of the most powerful figures in the French business world; for example, Martin Bouygues (from the Bouygues group, owner of the TF1 channel, as well as telecommunications and public works companies) and Bernard Arnault (from LVMH) were his marriage witnesses. His brother, Guillaume, is a senior executive of the MEDEF, the foremost business union in France; in 2005, he renounced running for the top position of that union because he said he did not want to hinder his brother's political career. French presidents have long had links with the business sector, but Sarkozy's have been especially extensive, and especially publicly discussed. His vacation on the yacht of a wealthy industrialist, immediately after his election, drew particular comment, although Sarkozy was unapologetic.
Religion and state
Sarkozy, a Catholic, has caused controversy because of his views on the relationship between religion and state. In 2004, he published a book called ''La RĂ©publique, les religions, l'espĂ©rance'' (âThe Republic, Religions, and Hopeâ),[70] in which he argued that the young should not be brought up solely on secular or republican values. He also advocated reducing the separation of church and state, arguing for the government subsidy of mosques in order to encourage Islamic integration into French society.[71] He flatly opposes financing of religious institutions with funds from outside France. After meeting with Tom Cruise, Sarkozy was criticised by some for meeting with a member of the Church of Scientology, which is classified as a cult in France (see Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France).[72]
War in Iraq
Nicolas Sarkozy, like almost all French politicians, disapproved of the US-led invasion of Iraq, but was nonetheless critical of the way Jacques Chirac and his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin expressed France's opposition to the war. Talking at the French-American Foundation in Washington, D.C. on 12 September 2006, he denounced what he called the "French arrogance" and said: "It is bad manners to embarrass one's allies or sound like one is taking delight in their troubles."[ Chirac juge «lamentable» l'atlantisme de Sarkozy ''Libération'' ] He also added: "We must never again turn our disagreements into a crisis." This speech, given without the assent of the French president by a member of the French government traveling abroad (Sarkozy was still Minister of the Interior), was criticised by many in France. Jacques Chirac reportedly said in private that Sarkozy's speech was "appalling" and "a shameful act".
Even though his current foreign minister Bernard Kouchner (excluded from the Socialist party after his inclusion in François Fillon's government) had been one of the few supporters in France of removal of Saddam Hussein from power, Sarkozy's stance on the war has not changed.
View on genetic predispositions
A few weeks before the first round of the 2007 presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy said during an interview with philosopher Michel Onfray[73] that he thinks disorders such as paedophilia and depression have a genetic as well as social basis, famously stating "I don't agree with you, I'd be inclined to think that one is born a paedophile, and it is actually a problem that we do not know how to cure this disease"; he also claimed that suicides among youth were linked to genetic predispositions by stating, "I don't want to give parents a complex. It's not exclusively the parents' fault every time a youngster commits suicide."
These claims were criticised by some scientists, including controversial geneticist Axel Kahn.[74][75]
Sarkozy later said, "What part is innate and what part is acquired? At least let's debate it, let's not close the door to all debate."[76]
African speech
On Friday, 27 July 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech in Senegal, in which he made reference to "African peasants"[77][78] and said that colonialism was not the cause of all of Africa's problems,77 and denied that France had ever exploited an African country.
The remarks were greeted with disappointment and widely condemned by African intellectuals; some viewed them as racist.[79]
A purported letter from South African president Thabo Mbeki praising Sarkozy for the speech and calling him a "citizen of Africa" raised an outcry among the South African media.
Awards and honours
★ Grand Cross of the ''LĂ©gion d'honneur (2007 - Automatic when taking office)
★
★ ''Was previously Knight of the LĂ©gion d'honneur (since 2004)
★ Grand Cross of the ''Ordre national du MĂ©rite'' (2007 - Automatic when taking office)
★ Commander of the ''Ordre de LĂ©opold (Belgium)
References
1. Astier, Henri; ''What now for Nicolas Sarkozy?'', BBC News, 16 May 2007
2. Bennhold, Katrin; ''Sarkozy pledges quick action on French economy'', ''International Herald Tribune'', 7 May 2007.
3. Anderson, John Ward and Molly Moore; ''Sarkozy Wins, Vows to Restore Pride in Franc'', Washington Post, 7 May 2007.
4. Pål Sårközy de Nagy-Bócsa is not his French name. It is the "westernised", or "internationalised", version of his Hungarian name, in which the given name is put first (whereas in Hungarian given names come last), and the French artistocratic particle "de" is used instead of the Hungarian aristocratic ending "-i". This "westernisation" of Hungarian names is frequent, particularly for people with an aristocratic name. Check for example the leader of Hungary from 1920 to 1944, whose Hungarian name is nagybånyai Horthy Miklós, but who is known in English as Miklós Horthy de Nagybånya. The French name of Pål Sårközy de Nagy-Bócsa is Paul Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa, where the given name Pål has been translated into Paul in French, and the acute accents on the "a" of Sarközy and the "o" of Bocsa were dropped as these letters never carry an acute accent (''accent aigu'') in French. The trema on the "o" of Sårközy was kept, probably because French typewriters allow this combination, whereas it is impossible to write "a" or "o" with an acute accent using a French typewriter.
5. Weekly Standard, France girds for the Sarko-SĂ©go showdown
6. ''see Catherine Nay's semi-official biography''
7. ''see Catherine Nay's semi-official biography''
8. ''Un pouvoir nommé désir'', Catherine Nay, 2007
9. http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/10355969?view=Eircomnet
10. See Catherine Nay's semi-official biography
11. ââIn his documentary film, âSĂ©go et Sarko sont dans un bateauâ, the left-winger journalist Karl Zero suggests Sarkozy first met Ciganer-Albeniz when he officiated at the marriage ceremony).ââ
12. Nay, Catherine - 'Un Pouvoir Nomme DĂ©sir'' (A Power Named Desire), Biography
13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6656717.stm
14. ''Events company Publicis had organised a large UMP meeting in 2004, nominating Sarkozy as party-head ''
15. ''The Daily Telegraph'', '' The Sarkozy saga''. Consulted on August 12, 2007.
16. ''Daily Telegraph''.19 April 2007.
17. In his documentary film, âSĂ©go et Sarko sont dans un bateauâ, journalist Karl Zero suggests Ciganer-Albeniz just has an arrangement to accompany Sarkozy on official engagements, but offers no proof to back this up.
18. "Le patrimoine de Nicolas Sarkozy s'élÚve à 2 millions d'euros", ''Libération'', 11 May 2007 (read here
19. "French Populism", by Ignacio Ramonet, Le Monde Diplomatique, June 2007 Edition, French version , English translation
20. ''Le Parisien'', 11 January 2007
21. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dette_publique_de_la_France
22. Broadcast of "France 2", 19 November 2003
23. French Constitution, article 23
24. ''JO associations'', 28 May 2003
25. WorldWide Religious News
26. Le gouvernement finalise la privatisation de France Télécom
27. Bruxelles valide le sauvetage d'Alstom
28. ''Le Quotidien de l'Expansion'', 30 September 2004
29. ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', press review, 21 October 2004
30. Azouz Begag, principal opposant Ă Nicolas Sarkozy, ''Le Monde'', 2 November 2005
31. Interview with ''Le Monde'', 8 September 2005
32. âSarkozy nod for presidential runâ, ''BBC News'', 14 January 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2007.
33. It was included in the ''paquet fiscal'' that has been one of the first laws passed at Parliament
34. Sarkozy pour un deuxiÚme porte-avions français (AFP)
35. France's Jacques Chirac Backs Nicolas Sarkozy. 21 March 2007.
36. French confused over the real Sarkozy. April 18, 2007
37. Radiant CĂ©cilia puts Sarkozy in the shade
38. Peugeot 607 Paladine, ''Outrefranc'', retrieved on May 17, 2007
39. La lettre de Guy MĂŽquet Ă la veille de sa mise Ă mort, ''Le Figaro'', 16 May 2007
40. Guy MÎquet en toutes lettres, ''Libération'', 6 June 2007
41. Guy MĂŽquet â the Courageous Struggle, ''L'HumanitĂ©'', 18 May 2007 (translated 1 June 2007)
42. Nicolas Sarkozy has been busy manipulating the history of France, ''L'Humanité'' (translated 8 May 2007)
43. CommuniquĂ© de la PrĂ©sidence de la RĂ©publique concernant la nomination du Premier ministre. ''ĂlysĂ©e Palace'', May 17, 2007
44. France's New Government - A study in perpetual motion, ''The Economist'', June 23, 2007
45. Llama G8 a FARC contribuir a liberaciĂłn de rehenes, ''La Cronica'', June 8, 2007
46. Tripoli annonce un contrat d'armement avec la France, l'Elysée dans l'embarras, ''Le Monde'', 2 August 2007
47. FMI : Strauss-Kahn candidat officiel de lâUnion europĂ©enne, ''Le Figaro'', 10 July 2007
48. Reuters, "France's Sarkozy wants Strauss-Kahn as IMF head" Sat Jul 7, 2007 2:38PM EDT read here
49. Les députés votent la quasi-suppression des droits de succession, ''Le Figaro'', 13 July 2007
50. Les droits de succession (presque) supprimés, ''Libération'', 13 July 2007
51. Droits de succession : pour une minorité de ménages aisés, ''L'Humanité'', 7 June 2007
52. Nicolas Sarkozy assistera aux obsĂšques du cardinal Lustiger, ''L'Express'', 9 August 2007
53. ArrĂȘtĂ© du 16 mai 2007 portant nomination Ă la PrĂ©sidence de la RĂ©publique ''Journal Officiel''
54. French President Is Best Dressed Pol, ''CBS'', August 9, 2007
55. Frédéric PagÚs, "Cécilia, dame d'enfer" in ''Le Canard enchaßné'', 22 August 2007
56. Cécilia Sarkozy n'a pas voté... scoop censuré du JDD, ''Rue 89'', 13 May 2007
57. Sarkozy: les poignées de l'amour, ''L'Express'', 22 August 2007
58. Un bourrelet relance le débat sur la retouche d'images, ''Rue 89'', 23 August 2007
59. Topless Sarkozy's love handles airbrushed away, ''Foreign Policy'' blog, 22 August 2007
60. [4]
61. [5]
62. Marianne, Le retournement de Sarkozy sur Airbus, 05 March 2007
63. ''L'Humanité'', 11 June 2005.
64. answering to a resident who addressed Sarkozy with "''Quand nous dĂ©barrassez-vous de cette racaille ?''"(When will you get rid us from these dregs) (France 5, ''ArrĂȘt sur images'' 6 November 2005)
65.
L'Humanité, ''Nicolas Sarkozy pompier pyromane'', 2 November 2005
66. [6]
67. 26 June 2006, ''Les magistrats accusent Sarkozy de violer la séparation des pouvoirs''
68. ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 1 October 2005
69. ''Le Monde'', 23 June 2005
70. ''Le Figaro Magazine'', October 2004
71. "LâEtat Doit-Il Financer La Construction de Mosquees?"
72. ''Worldwide Religious News'', 2 September 2004
73. ''Philosophie Magazine'', nr 8, April 2007; online extracts
74. L'Humanité, April 4, 2007, ''« Un gÚne ne commande jamais un destin humain »''
75. Le Monde, April 11, 2007, ''Tollé dans la communauté scientifique aprÚs les propos de Nicolas Sarkozy sur la génétique''
76. The Guardian, April 10, 2007, ''« Row over Sarkozy's paedophilia comment refuses to go away »''
77. ''News24.com''; 28 July 2007; Sarkozy's Africa vision under fire
78. Chris McGreal;''The Guardian (UK)''27 August, 2007 Mbeki criticised for praising 'racist' Sarkozy
79. Achille Mbembe; ''Mail and Guardian (South Africa)''; 27 August 2007; Sacré bleu! Mbeki and Sarkozy?
Bibliography
★ Testimony : The English version of the bestselling Temoignage, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, Harriman House, 2007,
★ [Georges Mandel] : le moine de la politique, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, B. Grasset, 1994,
★ Les deux Nicolas : la machine Balladur, , Ghislaine, Ottenheimer, Plon, 1994,
★ Au bout de la passion, l'Ă©quilibre, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, A. Michel, 1995, , interviews with Michel Denisot.
★ Sarkozy : l'ascension d'un jeune homme pressĂ©, , Anita, Hauser, Belfond, 1995, , Grand livre du mois 1995.
★ Libre, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, Pocket, 2003, , subject(s): Pratiques politiquesâFranceâ1990â, FranceâPolitique et gouvernementâ1997â2002.
★ Nicolas Sarkozy : l'instinct du pouvoir, , Aymeric, Mantoux, First Ăd., 2003,
★ Un Pouvoir NommĂ© DĂ©sir, , Catherine, Nay, l'Archipel, 2007,
★ Sarkozy : itinĂ©raire d'une ambition, , Anita, Hauser, Grasset, 2003,
★ Sarkozy, l'homme (trop) pressĂ©, , , Le Canard enchaĂźnĂ© (periodical), "Le Canard enchaĂźnĂ©", 2003, ISSN 0292-5354 (series) , series: Les dossiers du "Canard enchaĂźnĂ©" 89.
★ Sarkozy au fond des yeux, , Nicolas, Domenach, Jacob-Duvernet, [2004],
★ Alvarez-Montalvo, Marta (9 July, 2004). "ÂżQuiĂ©n teme a Nicolas Sarkozy? El ministro de economĂa francĂ©s se postula como prĂłximo candidato a las presidenciales de 2007.", in ''Epoca'' ([Madrid] : Difusora de Informacion Periodica S.A., DINPESA, July 9, 2004), number 1012, p. 46(2), 3 pages, 829 words, available online [7].
★ Voyage Ă Sarkoland, , Antoine, Blocier, le Temps des cerises, 2004,
★ Sarko circus, , , Cabu, le Cherche Midi, 2004, , subject(s): Sarkozy, Nicolas (1955â) â Caricatures et dessins humoristiques.
★ Le rebelle et le roi, , BĂ©atrice, Gurrey, A. Michel, 2004, , Grand Livre du mois 2004, subject(s): Chirac, Jacques (1932â), Sarkozy, Nicolas (1955â), FranceâPolitique et gouvernementâ1995â.
★ La RĂ©publique, les religions, l'espĂ©rance : entretiens avec Thibaud Collin et Philippe Verdin, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, les Ă©d. du Cerf, 2004, , subject(s): LaĂŻcitĂ©âFranceâ1990â, IslamâFranceâ1990â.
★ La RĂ©publique, les religions, l'espĂ©rance : entretiens avec Thibaud Collin et Philippe Verdin, , Nicolas, Sarkozy, Pocket, DL, 2005, .
★ Sarko Star, , MichaĂ«l, Darmon, Ăd. du Seuil, 2004,
★ Dans la peau de Sarko et de ceux qui veulent sa peau, , Jean-Pierre, Friedman, Michalon, 2005,
★ Nicolas Sarkozy, le destin de Brutus, , Victor, Noir, , 2005,
★ Chirac Sarkozy, mortelle randonnĂ©e, , Philippe, Reinhard, First Ă©d., 2005,
★ NicolĂ©on, roman, , Serge, Sautreau, L' Atelier des Brisants, 2005,
★ RenĂ© DosiĂšre, 'L'argent cachĂ© de l'ĂlysĂ©e', Seuil, 2007
External links
Official websites
★ President of France
★ Nicolas Sarkozy Construire EnsembleâOfficial web site of the presidential campaign
★ Website of the UMP, Sarkozy's party
★ Nicolas SarkozyâOfficial Website
★ Supporters de SarkozyâOfficial Website of Nicolas Sarkozy's supporters
Press
★ ''Interview after One Month in Office in Le Figaro, 07.06.2007''
★ ''Charlie Rose show 02.02.07'' (video interview at Place Beauvau, Paris with PBS journalist Charlie Rose, 30.01.07)
★ ''Sarkozy takes over Chirac's UMP party'' (BBC)
★ ''Profile: Nicolas Sarkozy'' (BBC)
★ ''Nicolas Sarkozy: French Choose the American Way?'' by David Storobin
★ Vive this difference by Suzanne Fields
★
★ France's chance, ''Economist'', 12 April 2007
★ Letter From Europe- Round 1 Jane Kramer, ''The New Yorker'', April 23, 2007
Related contents
★ Some Nicolas Sarkozy's quotations
★ Sarkozy 2007âWebsite to promote Nicolas Sarkozy's candidacy in 2007
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