Super-Sarko Shakes Up the French Political Scene
France, for now, embraces its new American-style president
But Sarkozy's most audacious political move to date was convincing the European Union to support Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a respected former economics minister who failed to win the Socialist Party's nomination for president earlier this year, as its candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, a post traditionally reserved for a European. Observing the president's siren calls to Socialists eager for attention, former centrist presidential candidate François Bayrou said Sarkozy was acting like a "piranha in a goldfish bowl."
Shifting policy. Sarkozy is also breaking new ground in foreign policy, moving away from the stubbornly independent stance established by Gen. Charles de Gaulle and followed by every president since. Sarkozy, for instance, has expressed strong support for Israel, breaking with France's unequivocal defense of the Palestinian cause. He backs Washington's demand that Iran drop its nuclear weapons program, and he has sharply criticized Moscow for human-rights violations. In another sign of rapprochement with Washington, Sarkozy appears to be rethinking his campaign promise to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan. And, in what is seen as a reflection of pro-American sensibilities, he selected former Ambassador to Washington Jean-David Levitte to head a new National Security Council based on the White House model.
Domestic political reforms are also beginning to take shape, which may prove the real test of Sarkozy's popularity. Parliament approved a law allowing employees to work overtime, with the extra earned income tax free. That's intended to spur the economy by encouraging individual initiative, but it seriously undermines the 35-hour workweek approved by the Socialists when they were in power.
Another key reform likely to be approved this summer would weaken public service unions by guaranteeing minimum service in public transportation during strikes, a change that may lead unions to order walkouts and demonstrations after the sacrosanct summer holidays. If so, the relaxed, cheering, smiling Sarkozy of the Tour de France could be just a memory.
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