The French Presidency

William Edgar

Hope for the World?

It was a decisive victory: 53 percent to 47 percent, with a voter turnout of 84 percent. Nicolas Sarkozy, from the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, defeated Ségolène Royal, the Socialist, who would have been the first woman president of France. On May 6, 2007, at 7:50 pm, Jacques Chirac, then his wife Bernadette, called to congratulate him. Five minutes later, Ségolène Royal called and graciously admitted defeat. At 8:05 it was George Bush, the first foreign chief of state, who called to salute him.

What does this mean for the future of Europe? What does it mean for the future of America’s relations to Europe and to France in particular? And, finally, what are the implications for the kinds of values The Trinity Forum stands for?

Who Is Nicolas Sarkozy?

Born in Paris, in 1955, he is the son of Hungarian immigrants who fled to France because of the increasing oppression of communism. Although he does have a Jewish heritage on his mother’s side, in practice he looks more like a traditional Roman Catholic.1 He even went on pilgrimage to Lourdes last year with his wife, Cécilia. In his speeches he often praises Pope John Paul II.

In the 1970s he declared his passion for politics and aligned himself with the Gaullists. He began a long involvement with Parisian government, where he interacted with the major conservative figures of France, including Jacques Chirac and Edouard Balladur. Sarkozy rose to become Minister of the Interior, the government’s second in command.

He married Marie-Dominique Culioli in 1982 and had two sons with her, Pierre and Jean. This first marriage failed and he married again in 1996, this time to Cécilia Martin, a striking woman and an important figure in party politics. Most French media say Cécilia is enigmatic. She is “omnipresent yet invisible,” they say, enjoying a singular relationship that defies analysis. She is the mother of Sarkozy’s youngest son, Louis. She briefly left Sarkozy in 2005, claiming she was tired of being just a piece of furniture, but things seem all right now, at least on the surface. In one way the French do not particularly care about the private lives of their politicians. Yet in another way they are a very conservative people, and somehow family ties do matter.

Sarkozy’s numerous achievements include the brilliant way he handled the “Human Bomb” who took twenty-one children hostage in an elementary school in Neuilly. At the age of 38 he was Minister of Finance in Prime Minister Balladur’s government. He tried to water down the 35-hour workweek to make it less debilitating to productivity. His most controversial move was decisively to quell the violence of certain “hot” suburbs in November 2005, calling the rebels “racaille”—loosely translated, “scum.” He went on to try and meet the needs of these mostly African citizens, unemployed and frustrated at France’s elitism.

When former UN representative Dominique de Villepin was appointed Prime Minister in 2005, he stated that he did not believe Sarkozy had presidential stature. Last April he confessed that he was wrong.

Sarkozy is known as a law-and-order man, a pro-American and pro-business politician. There is truth to each of these characterizations, but the reality is more subtle. One of the most popular images of him is “the Mozart of politics.” Based on his introduction to a 1994 biography of Resistance leader Georges Mandel, it means he loves risk, he loves color, he understands humanity. Hopefully it does not mean a premature death!

What will his policies look like? At 52, he is the youngest French president since Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who was 48. He is the first president to have been born after the Second World War. And he did not attend the traditional Grandes Écoles, the top schools of administration from which so many “old boys” in French government hail.

About the European Union

Predictably, Sarkozy immediately appointed François Fillon to be France’s 168th Prime Minister. Fillon is planning to jumpstart the economy with radical tax reforms, and has compared France to a Formula One automobile, a great car that needs to be driven at top speed in order to make up for France’s considerable arrears. But Sarkozy is known to hire people who are not yes-men. One of his more gutsy appointments is Bernard Kouchner as foreign minister. Kouchner actually campaigned against him, but is widely respected for his work in health care, and most notably the creation of the Nobel Prize–winning group, Médecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). Is this Machiavellian, or simply smart?

“Sarko” is a strong believer in the European Union. On May 23 he went to Brussels to help find ways to end the EU’s “institutional paralysis,” as he puts it. He is keenly aware that French voters rejected the draft for the European constitution in 2005, which has significantly stalled progress toward the greater integration of the now 27-member group. Although he has been critical of the European Central Bank and of an over-valued Euro, he favors the UCB’s independency. But he is anxious to move Europe forward, to trim its sails, to get rid of its cumbersome power structure, and get down to business. His campaign promises for the governance of the EU included the idea of a simplified treaty, rather than a complicated charter. And he would avoid cumbersome referendums.

Most controversially, Sarkozy does not want Turkey in the EU. “Europe needs borders,” he recently told José Manuel Barroso, president of the Union. Turkey has been seeking membership since 2005, though talks are expected to last many more years. Although Sarkozy wants strong ties to Turkey, and has good relations with President Tayyip Erdogan, he is firm on that country’s not being included. Many issues are represented here. Undoubtedly a certain fear of strong Muslim influence is part of the mix, though Sarkozy has gone out of his way to help bring peace between Muslims—who represent about 10 percent of the French population—and the mainstream. Another factor is internal developments in Turkey, particularly concern for the durability of the “lay” state established by Ataturk in 1923. While considered a success, Turkey’s secular government has become strained as pro-Islamic groups quietly gain ascendancy. Interestingly, it is the Turkish military that guards the secular principle more than any other group. But there are signs that Islamic elements within Turkey have more monopolistic ambitions. If so, some of France’s fears may be well founded.

On the Economy

It is clear that Nicolas Sarkozy is a hard worker. More or less abandoned by his father at a young age, he paid for his own studies by selling ice cream and flowers in Neuilly. His wife has complained that he is so focused his family is neglected. But will his work ethic carry the day in the face of the social fabric of France? Although unemployment has dropped a little, the rate has not fallen below 8 percent in twenty-five years. France’s GNP has moved from seventh to seventeenth during that time. In 2006 its economic growth was the slowest of any country’s except Portugal. Those 47 percent who voted for Madame Royal wanted to hold on to the government-sponsored programs that would effectively keep France un pays d’assistés—a country of dependents.

Sarkozy hopes to render the 35-hour workweek, a policy begun in 2000, somewhat more flexible. He is protectionist to a degree, but wants to make it easier to hire and fire workers and has begun negotiations with key unions to that effect. He wants to help with pension funds, reduce tax burdens, and follow a generally liberal agenda. But he will meet with considerable opposition. Having lived long years in France, and having experienced the enormous benefits (handouts?) of the socialist system, I know how very difficult it will be to make the necessary sacrifices. Yet many French people long for more freedom to be the entrepreneurs that they are by nature.

Global Warming

Beside the economy, Sarkosy’s second greatest priority is ecology. To the surprise of many, this pro-business president is also very concerned for the environment. He is preparing a large conference in October on the environment, and hopes to challenge all nations to be more aggressive about combating pollution and global warming. He has spoken of imposing a carbon tax on imports from nations that have not ratified the Kyoto Accords.

Greenpeace France has welcomed Sarkozy, though cautiously, as a man who could make a great difference. They also have said that differences do exist. For example, France is perhaps the world’s greatest user of nuclear energy. Greenpeace does not generally endorse such a dependency. They have also criticized France for failing to enforce EU standards on overfishing, genetically modified foods, and especially measures aimed at countering global warming.

At a recent meeting, Sarkozy said, “It’s time for action.” He wants to move fast for a change in what he believes is the inertia of the Chirac government on the environment. And he chides the United States for not being more forceful in its concern for the environment (no French poodle here). He has put conservative heavyweight Alain Juppé in charge of this whole area. At least Sarkozy is sending the right messages. Will he deliver? Time will tell.

Religious Liberty

In a remarkable 2004 interview, Sarkozy waxed passionate on the plight of the world’s Jews. He stressed how normal it was for Jews to desire a second home in the land of Israel. “Every Jew carries within him a fear passed down through generations, and he knows that if one day he will not feel safe in his country, there will always be a place that would welcome him. And this is Israel.”2 It is worth mentioning that Sarkozy’s mother is from the prestigious Mallah family, which counts numerous rabbis and Jewish leaders among its members. In the fifteenth century, this family fled to Provence, France, to escape the Spanish Inquisition. A century later they moved to Thessaloniki, where several family members became prominent leaders. The family lost much in the great fire of 1917 that destroyed that city, and much of its property was seized by the state. Many fled to Palestine, France, and America. Some fifty-seven members of the family in France lost their lives in the Holocaust.

While it is unlikely that Sarkozy will be able to change French Middle East policy radically, he will certainly try for a different balance of power in the region. The personnel working at the Quai d’Orsay (the foreign office) have resisted the “clash of civilizations” model, and Sarkozy is unlikely to force their hand despite his considerable sympathies with Israel. Still, Sarkozy has been less friendly to Lebanon than Jacques Chirac, but more open to relations with Syria than the former president. And because he is likely to be far more obliging to the United States (some have accused him, quite unfairly, of being “America’s poodle”) he is likely to show more caution in dealing with Israel than his predecessor. This does not mean he supports the American-led war in Iraq. Yet he has promised that “France would always be at [America’s] side when it needs her.”

There is something else about Sarkozy’s sympathies with America. He has a keen awareness of the need for religious liberty. Indeed, the book referenced above, La République, les religions, l’espérance, outlines his views on religious freedom in France. He was at the time of writing Minister of the Interior, and the major policies on “les cultes,” or religious denominations, is that office’s responsibility. During his tenure there, Sarkozy worked hard to find ways to accommodate Islamic groups into secular France. Like most public figures, he supports the famous law of 1905 that defines the separation of church and state in rather patent categories. But he is far more open than many current politicians to promoting religious liberty, at least within certain bounds. For example, in this same book he argues for “an Islam which is integrated into European culture, one that would live in good harmony in the midst of a larger context, an Islam that would renounce every aspiration towards an Islamic state, an Islam that would renounce various practices and archaisms all the while preserving its fundamental identity.” This kind of statement is in marked contrast with the strong feelings of many in government, and of many ordinary citizens, who would want to enforce a silencing of Muslim symbols in public, as we saw during the crisis of the schoolgirl wearing her hijab in the public school.

Sarkozy affirms something deep and significant about the place of religion in human life. He believes that the major religions represent, first, the place where hope is most profoundly expressed, and, second, “the primordial place where life is so imprinted that it will not stop after death.” He affirms that the place of religion in France at the beginning of the third millennium is central. It is a fundamental need, and a reality for the majority of women and men in our times. The right to live one’s religion is as simple as it is profound; it is “the right to live out one’s hope.”

It is significant that while Sarkozy believes in laïcité, the term used for the secular character of France, he is wary of the danger that secularity may itself become sectarian. He notes that for many, the commitment to a purely secular vision leads to being indifferent, which was not the intention of the 1905 law. This is a profound insight. One of the typical pitfalls of believing in a naked public square, which is the way some have taken the law of 1905, is the assumption that in the absence of religion, the square would remain empty. But in fact that is an impossibility. There will always be something “religious” to occupy the place. If not Christian faith, then perhaps, as Jacques Ellul reminded us, it would be a religion of secularity. A better way is to affirm a government that strives for justice and religious freedom for every citizen and that therefore, far from silencing Christians and Muslims and people of other faiths, allows them to speak forthrightly and persuasively, though not manipulatively. Dare we assume that Sarkozy, by denying such a sectarian view of the lay state, would qualify as a “principled pluralist”? He certainly sounds like one.

The Future

A good part of Nicolas Sarkozy’s success will depend on the parliamentary elections June 10. While nothing can be taken for granted, the strong showing on May 6 should mean a comfortable majority for the “right.” According to a recent poll, the UMP is on course to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly, with 317 to 381 seats, against 151 to 200 for the Socialist Party. (Modem, the new centrist party founded by presidential candidate François Bayrou, should take between zero and four seats.) This would give Sarkozy a strong mandate to lead.

Of course, no one should imagine that a French president, nor any other president, is the messiah. Politics has its place, an important one. But our world, under God’s providence, is one of different spheres. Each human being, made in God’s image, is called to follow Christ in the family, the school, the workplace, the church, and wherever else the Lord calls. The French, like everyone else, should resist the temptation to look at government as anything more—though not anything less—than what it can be in God’s order of Creation. It is certainly illusory to promote culture wars where the winner must take all.

The main challenge for France today, as for many other European countries, is to get beyond a purely economic model of human significance. We are so much more than financially viable entities. We are cultural beings. It will take a great deal of persuasion to move France—and Europe—toward a cultural and spiritual awareness. But it is not too late for the First World to become an agent for meaning, for shalom, throughout the globe. There is no fundamental reason why this could not happen. Renewal, and indeed reformation, are never off the table.  

William Edgar is professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary and a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum.

2 Responses (comments are closed) • Features, Global Culture, Public Square, Religious Liberty, Tue 05 Jun 2007