French Presidential Elections -round Two

a bientot

To judge by the numbers reading and contributing to topics on the Presidentielles and general politics in France the interest is very evident here in Ireland.
May I suggest that they might watch the debate LIVE on TV5MONDE from Paris on 2 May.........
The election itself will be all over the minute the last polling station closes in France on Sunday, 6 May......

To the surprise of the non-French including journalists around the world the names of the two finalists were known last Sunday at 18h59 (Dublin time). One newspaper sent its reporter to Frazers -more used to having heavy beer drinkers watching football matches- in O Connell street Dublin where over 400 French had gathered just as Segolene Royal was finishing her address to her troops....as she urged them on to Round Two.

The CSA has made it known that the head to head debate will take place in the evening but the exact timings are not known yet ...
See the The Irish Times or lepetitjournal.com for exact timings on Wednesday next or check out www.tv5.org

mike65

Bump!

Polling tomorrow, the epic debate seems to have given Nicolas Sarkozy a bounce. The latest poll puts him at about 54%.

Royals' camp seems to be getting a bit desperate

AP, PARIS • Socialist Segolene Royal warned yesterday that France could slide into violence if Nicolas Sarkozy wins the presidency as the right-winger extended his poll lead on the final day of the hard fought campaign.

Royal, seeking to become France’s first woman president, said she was “issuing an alert” that a Sarkozy victory in the election tomorrow could “trigger violence and brutalities across the country.”

“His candidacy is dangerous. That is why I am asking voters to think twice,” Royal told RTL radio on the last day of campaigning in one of the most exciting elections in decades.

Mike.

Dirk Gently

Royal conceeds.

royal 47% sarkozy 53%

Looks like France is in for some rough times ahead as tough changes are made.

Ponster

Sarkozy just won with 54%

Looks like my future in France is gonna change, just don't exactly know how yet

daveirl

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Hogmeister B

daveirl wrote:

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Really, even in RTE? I hadn't noticed.

mike65

"Sarko will eat your babies" etc!

France needs a kick up the arse, they won't appricate it, even having voted for it. So expect any amount of resistance and riots tonight.

Mike.

Ponster

Great speech by Sarky. It's been a loooooooong time since I heard a French president speak in such a way.

daveirl

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InFront

Can't we have them both? Sarkozy for an economically successful and European France, Royal for the non economic domestic policy issues and social inclusion.

With either candidate, something was going to give. I'm not sure France can afford to lose either economic progress or social harmony, but the latter is certainly going to get a going-over with a blunt hatchet.

Sand

Can't we have them both? Sarkozy for an economically successful and European France, Royal for the non economic domestic policy issues and social inclusion.

With either candidate, something was going to give. I'm not sure France can afford to lose either economic progress or social harmony, but the latter is certainly going to get a going-over with a blunt hatchet.

They seemed to be fairly opposed on the basic philosophy underlying their policies tbh. You cant meld two wildly opposed views on the role of government, when the economy underpins the rest of the governments policy.

If I understand correctly, in the reaction to a policewoman being raped on her way home Royal suggested it was wrong she was let go home alone. Without knowing the precise details it seems an odd complaint. Was it being suggested that the French government should hire male civil servants to escort female civil servants home?

Ms Royal attacked him over his plans for heavy cuts in the civil service and cited the case of a policewoman who was raped last month as she returned from work at night.

“Under my presidency every woman police officer will be accompanied to her home after work,” Ms Royal said.

Sounds crazy, but Royal springs from the socialist/communist front in France where the solution to everything is found in a government bureau or a university think tank, where the government will always find the money to pay for someone else to do it.

Sarkozy is greatly feared and despised by his political enemies for precisely the reason that he stands opposite to that view. France has long needed someone to face the economic and social failures in France, and solve them rather than paper over them. Sarkozy might be that person, he at least recognises the basic problem. That said, he is still fighting the most deeply entrenched unreformed communist troglodytes this side of the old iron curtain. Hell need luck and then some to make even modest reforms. Hell also need to avoid the sort of backstabbing he delivered to Chirac & Co a year ago.

Royal was a deeply unimpressive candidate - when you got past the hoopla about her gender she was shaky on policy and basically stumbled from one gaffe to another. I think socialists in France were stuck with the fact they could only really sell her to voters as "not being Sarkozy".

Lirange

Bayrou > Sarky & Segs

It must be said that Segolene was a crummy candidate. A bit of a hot head and prone to making bone headed remarks. Sarkozy looks statesmanlike in comparison ... which in itself can be quite a feat as he has history of having to dislodge his foot from his piehole.

I don't think she (and others on the left in France) realise that the spectre of riots only mobilises the far right. Some are deluded into thinking scenes of burning cars on the Rue will be a battle call for a social upheaval and a "great awakening" of the left. But scenes like those and immigration anxieties are precisely why Le Pen pullled the "shocker" result a few years back. So you end up with an alliance of the economic liberals, Gaullist nationals, and the ever growing xenophobic nativists. Tough to overcome. Brings up the point that there are an inordinate amount of -ists in France (even by European standards) and this will typically favour the right.

Lionel Jospin in contrast to Royal was quite pragmatic. He was reasonable, he compromised, and wasn't boxed in by ideology. He demonstrated this during his stint as prime minister. He held his own against the entrenched Gaullists at a difficult time. Sarkozy himself is a poor candidate but faced with the ineptitude of Madame Royal the UMP saunters away with the sash.

Manic Moran

Considering Sarkozy's background, I find it amusing that people consider him to be anti-immigrant. He just has a different philosophy on immigration/integration than the left.

I am reminded of the Governator's problem: He's accused of being anti-immigrant, when he is one himself. Bizarre.

NTM

Lirange

I think the point you raise would have more validity if Sarkozy were Algerian or if Arnie was Mexican. The socio-economic and cultural view is quite different from the perspective of first or second generation immigrants with North African or Hispanic origins in the two respective countries than it is for well off individuals with roots in Austria and Hungary.

Using the term "philosophy" is a bit benign. I wouldn't claim to know his true beliefs on the subject. But he is a politician. We know his policies and his proposals. It is undeniable that a substantial part of the voting bloc that secured his election are Le Pen's supporters and others with angst over the cultural issues that are part and parcel of the debate. I wouldn't put Sarkozy into Le Pen's class but the fact of the matter is they are part of his constituency. The fears and angst have shaped political policy on the right in France. Sarkozy's policies reflect these growing sentiments. The immigration, culture, language, and labour issues have been a boon to the right in many European countries ... and this is what we are seeing in France and what we will continue to see throughout the EU.