[Onthebarricades] Unrest after Sarkozy victory

[Andy]

  [While Bush himself is losing ground on his home turf
  in a pretty significant way, a Bush sympathiser scores
  a handsome electoral victory in France negating its
  long-revered Gaullist legacy.
  What an irony!]

  I/II.
  http://direland.typepad.com/

  May 06, 2007
  French Election: WHAT SARKOZY'S VICTORY MEANS

  Sarkozy_good In the third consecutive defeat for the
  French left in a presidential election, NICOLAS
  SARKOZY (left) has been chosen to lead France with a
  comfortable 53.06% of the vote, as the pre-election
  opinion polls had predicted. His Socialist opponent,
  Segolene Royal, received 46.94% (ACTUAL VOTES, UPDATED
  MONDAY MORNING.) A whopping record 82% of French
  voters went to the polls today to give an unambiguous
  victory to the autocratic, demagogic, hard-right
  nationalist Sarkozy, who campaigned on promises of a
  "rupture" with France's mixed economy and its welfare
  state, one of the most extensive in Europe.

  The crowd in the hall where Sarkozy declared victory
  after the polls closed repeatedly sang the national
  anthem, La Marseillaise -- with its famous xenophobic
  refrain, "Marchons, marchons! Qu'un sang impur abreuve
  nos sillons!" (Translation: Let us march, let us
  march, May impure blood soak the furrows of our
  fields.) And Sarkozy's campaign was marked by
  incessant appeals to racism and the fear of
  immigrants, symbolized by his adoption of a slogan
  used by the neo-fascist leader Jean-Marie Le Pen,
  "France, love it or leave it," and by his proposal for
  a new "Ministry of Immigration and National Identity,"
  which was widely criticized by the left and by
  anti-racist groups for amalgamating the two concepts
  and suggesting a fundamental opposition between the
  two.

  In fact, the campaign strategy of "Sarko," as he is
  referred to in France, was based onLe_pen_finger_good 
  appeals to the electorate of Le Pen (right) and his
  Front National party, which in the last presidential
  election in 2002 had beaten the Socialists for the
  place in the run-off against then-president Jacques
  Chirac. That lurch to the right five years ago by a
  significant portion of formerly left voters was
  confirmed by today's vote, in which more than
  two-thirds of former Le Pen voters -- many of them
  from the one-time Communist-dominated working class
  suburbs -- went for Sarkozy, according to the exit
  polls.

  Indeed, as the weekly Le Canard Enchaine -- which has
  the best insider political gossip -- reported a couple
  of weeks ago, a Sarkozy confident of victory had
  already discussed his long-term political strategy for
  remaining in power -- for, as Le Canard revealed,
  heFini_good plans to integrate the Front National
  into his ruling UMP party in his second term, uniting
  the hard-right and the neo-fascist extreme right in an
  alliance imitating that operated by the Italian Silvio
  Berlusconi with the "post-fascist" Alleanza Nationale
  of Gianfranco Fini (right), who was Berlusoconi's
  vice-premier.

  In his victory remarks within minutes after TV
  declared him the winner, Sarkozy -- frequently
  referred to the in the French press as "Sarko
  l'americain" for his aggressively Atlanticist views
  and his sympathy for Bush -- promised a cheering
  audience of supporters that "the American people can
  count on our friendship" and that the war on terrorism
  "is of primary importance in the world, it is a fight
  that will be our fight" under his leadership. In fact,
  President Bush called Sarkozy within a few minutes
  after the polls closed to congratulate him, according
  to a report on France 2 public television. (At left, a
  widely-circulated satirical poster, based on the
  French title of the movie "Fatal Attraction," showing
  Sarkozy during a visit with George W. Bush in the
  White House. This famous photo was widely commented
  upon in France, for it shows Sarko the same height as
  Bush -- even though the diminutive Sarkozy is several
  inches shorter than the U.S. president. Sarko had worn
  lifts in his shoes for the photo-op meeting to make
  them seem of equal height. No wonder the iconoclastic
  centrist magazine Marianne recently portrayed Sarko on
  its cover as Napoleon, another tiny authoritarian.)

  But in reality, what Sarkozy's victory means for
  France is something closer to the so-called "Reagan
  Revolution" in the U.S. that began in 1981 the process
  of dismantling and destroying the institutional New
  Deal legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Chirac was a
  Gaullist, and the political heritage of General
  Charles De Gaulle, who led France from 1958 to 1969,
  included a vigorously statist approach to the economy
  and defense of a wide series of social protection and
  social safety-net measures that had been instituted by
  the left's Popular Front government in the mid-1930s,
  and which were renewed and extended by post-war
  governments dominated by the political activists of
  the Resistance movement to Nazi occupation, who had a
  conception of government as a guarantor of economic
  security for all. Sarkozy is of a new generation than
  his predecessor Chirac and, ideologically, is not a
  Gaullist -- but rather Sarko is in phase with the
  "Chicago school" of economics led by Milton Friedman.

  Sarko believes in minimal government, a slimmed-down
  state that interferes as little as possible in the
  economy, an aggressively laissez-faire approach that
  is dear to the economic barons of the MEDEF, the
  French business leaders' association, whose tycoons
  were solidly behind Sarkozy's candidacy. Sarkozy has
  already promised to, in effect, abolish the ISF (the
  tax on large fortunes), accord more tax breaks to big
  business and the upper-middle-classes, and make more
  cuts in the state-run national health system (declared
  by a U.N. survey to be the finest in the world in
  terms of delivery of health services and quality of
  care.) Sarkozy's economic program is designed to help
  the already-privileged classes retain and extend their
  socio-economic position, to the detriment of the
  have-nots (the massive pro-Sarkozy vote in the
  upper-income neighborhoods today confirms that they
  understood Sarko's message to them.) And he has
  promised a major down-sizing of the civil service
  employed by state agencies.

  Sarkozy is a skilled demagogue who, on the stump,
  tried to give the impression (like Bush's first
  presidential campaign did) that he was a
  "compassionate conservative." But Sarkozy's so-called
  "compassion" is strictly rhetorical -- his concrete
  economic orientation is bound to deepen the gulf
  between the haves and the have nots, to aggravate what
  Jacques Chirac -- in a famous phrase from his 1995
  re-election campaign -- had baptized the "social
  fracture."

  Sarko's speech tonight had accents of Petain, when he
  declared that his election represented "a break with
  the past," and that he intended "to rehabilitate work,
  authority, morality, respect and merit." Another
  odious moment in Sarkozy's victory peroration came
  when he proclaimed that France would no longer be a
  country of "repenting" -- this was a dig at Chirac,
  who was the first French president to apologize for
  the crimes committed by the Vichy French state against
  Jews under the Nazi occupation, and who'd sent an
  ambassador to apologize to the Algerians for the
  French massacre of thousands of civilians in the city
  of Setif that had triggered the bloody war for
  Algerian independence from France's colonial rule. It
  was an ugly moment in Sarko's frightening speech, and
  a bow to Le Pen's notorious anti-Semitism, and Sarko's
  "break with the past" means a closing of the books on
  the most unsavory parts of France's recent history.

  Life for the have-nots will become even more difficult
  under Sarkozy's hard-right, anti-immigrant,
  law-and-order society. He has announced "zero
  tolerance" for illegal immigration, has deported tens
  of thousands of immigrants during his two terms as
  Interior Minister and split up immigrant families
  while making it tougher for them to become French
  citizens. He has proposed strict minimum sentences for
  all sorts of crimes, thus removing all discretion from
  French judges, and France's already-crowded prisons
  will soon be overflowing with expanded, and younger,
  populations. French prisons, like ours, are training
  institutes for criminals, and by sending ever-larger
  numbers of young people to them for petty offenses
  Sarkozy will, in fact, be manufacturing new
  generations of hardened voyous (thugs in French.)
  (Above left, Sarko as his puppet character in the
  popular satirical TV show "Les Guignols," showing him
  as the Chilean dictator Pinochet. Above his head, the
  balloon has him saying, "Too much liberty kills
  liberty.") In 1986, I was in Paris during the
  legislative elections that made Jacques Chirac prime
  minister for the first time -- and the next day, the
  police -- who sensed that the right's victory had
  unleashed them -- displayed an openly hostile and
  noticeably new aggressive posture toward people of
  color in the streets. I've had reports from French
  friends that the same thing happened after Sarkozy's
  strong, lead showing in the first round of this
  presidential election two weeks ago. Now, with
  Sarkozy's election, one can expect that the forces of
  law-and-order will consider that all restraints on
  them have been removed, and it will be more unpleasant
  than ever to be an Arab or black in France, no matter
  how many generations one's family has lived there or
  how perfectly one speaks French. (Remember Sarkozy's
  hard-line program of repression during the October
  2005 ghetto riots against racism, exclusion, and
  unemployment that had all France in flames?)

  Sarkozy absolutely hates the left -- in part because
  the Communists burned his aristocratic family's
  chateau in Hungary (from whence his family emigrated
  to France) in 1944. And, in a major campaign speech
  just days before the election, Sarkozy surprisingly
  devoted 20 minutes of his discourse to a violent
  denunciation of the May 1968 student-worker revolt
  (Sarko was only 14 at the time of that rebellion.).
  The heritage of May ';68, Sarko thundered, must be
  "liquidated." He blamed it for a generalized attitude
  of "laxisme," for France's having become a country "in
  which work has no value, in which people think they
  can do anything they feel like doing, in which people
  are lazy," and on and on. May '68 was, of course, the
  fountain of social ferment that led to the sexual
  revolution, to women's liberation and the legalization
  of abortion, the gay liberation movement and the
  eventual repeal of laws criminalizing homosexuality,
  the relaxation of censorship laws, and a whole series
  of other cultural changes that opened up a stuffy,
  paternalistic, arteriosclerotic French society. But
  May '68 was also a general strike by 11 million French
  workers that gained union recognition in many
  factories, higher wages, and that won a reinforcement
  of the social safety net in an agreement (negotiated
  on behalf of then-President Georges Pompidou by a
  young Jacques Chirac) that became known as "les
  accords de la rue de Grenelle" (the agreement of
  Grenelle Street). What was unstated in Sarko's
  anti-May '68 speech was that all that sort of thing,
  too, must be "liquidated." Dark days are ahead for
  those who love liberty, equality, and fraternity in
  France. (For more, see my earlier article, "Why
  Sarkozy Is Dangerous.")

  II.
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070507/ts_afp/francevote

  Sarkozy goes into seclusion as France braces for
  reform

  by Hugh SchofieldMon May 7, 4:46 PM ET

  France's next president Nicolas Sarkozy headed to
  Malta Monday for a few days of seclusion with his
  family a day after his election triumph that promises
  to usher in radical economic reforms.

  The 52-year-old president-elect boarded a yacht on the
  Mediterranean island with wife Cecilia and their
  10-year-old son Louis at the start of a three-day
  break far from the hectic post-election atmosphere in
  Paris, Maltese and French officials said on condition
  of anonymity.

  The family arrived in Malta on a private plane after
  spending the night in a Champs-Elysees hotel following
  Sarkozy's convincing electoral win Sunday with 53
  percent of the votes to 47 percent for his Socialist
  rival Segolene Royal.

  "He has not had a day off -- including weekends -- in
  more than five months and he just wants a break...,
  Today he is the top man. I think he deserves three
  days to reflect on running the world's fifth-biggest
  power," said Francois de la Brosse, a close friend of
  the Sarkozys.

  Sarkozy, a hyperactive rightwinger who relentlessly
  manouevred his way to power over the past five years,
  had pre-planned his post-electoral break to recover
  from his gruelling campaigning and to mentally ready
  himself for France's highest office.

  Ahead of him is an ambitious programme to overhaul
  France's economy. He has vowed to cut taxes for the
  wealthy, trim unemployment and curb the power of the
  country's powerful unions.

  He will take over from Jacques Chirac as president on
  May 17.

  Leaders from major western powers, including US
  President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela
  Merkel, were quick to congratulate Sarkozy, who is
  expected to forge closer ties with Washington and work
  to raise Europe's global standing.

  Franco-American relations cooled in 2003 after Chirac
  took a leading role in opposing the Iraq war at the
  United Nations.

  British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who at times had
  chilly moments with Chirac, spoke of his "respect" for
  Sarkozy and stressed the importance of an
  outward-looking France.

  In a YouTube message in French, Blair also said:
  "Nicolas is someone with whom I have worked on several
  occasions, who I admire and who I consider a friend."

  Sarkozy was expected to move fast to enact his
  reforms. He is banking on a clear majority for his
  Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party in
  legislative elections in June, after which he is to
  call a special session of the National Assembly to
  vote through the first stage of his programme.

  These include the abolition of tax on overtime, deep
  cuts in inheritance tax, a law guaranteeing minimum
  service in transport strikes, and rules to oblige the
  unemployed to take up offered work.

  On the social front he has pledged minimum jail terms
  for serial offenders and tougher rules to make it
  harder for immigrants to bring extended families to
  France.

  Before that he has the task of naming a prime
  minister. Former social affairs minister Francois
  Fillon and current Employment and Social Cohesion
  Minister Jean-Louis Borloo are seen as likely
  candidates.

  Tens of thousands of supporters celebrated Sarkozy's
  win into the night Sunday in the Place de la Concorde
  in Paris.

  "I want to say to everyone: I will not betray you, I
  will not lie to you, I will not disappoint you,"
  Sarkozy told them, after declaring he would represent
  all the French, even those who voted against him.

  But violence also greeted his victory.

  More than 700 cars were burned overnight by gangs of
  youths and nearly 600 people were arrested.

  The scenes were reminiscent of 2005 riots in poor
  French suburbs in which much of the anger was directed
  at Sarkozy, then interior minister.

  Late Monday, riot police charged a group of around 500
  youths protesting Sarkozy's election after they went
  on a rampage near the Place de la Bastille in eastern
  Paris, toppling motorbikes and breaking shop windows.

  Similar clashes took place in the same area on Sunday,
  and in several other cities around France.

  French newspapers of the left and right agreed that
  Sarkozy -- often attacked as a divisive figure -- had
  won a clear mandate for reform.

  "With the strong legitimacy his indisputable electoral
  performance gives him, the new president of the
  Republic can now begin his great transformation, but
  taking care, of course, to reconcile the French,"
  wrote the right-wing Le Figaro.

  "Nicolas Sarkozy is a legitimate president, elected
  without rotten tricks or hesitation," wrote the
  left-wing Liberation. "Tough, but it's the people's
  will. Thatcher without the petticoats? Let us prepare ourselves..."


  ___________________________________________________________
  Yahoo! Answers - Got a question? Someone out there knows the answer. Try it
  now.
  http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/

  _______________________________________________
  Foil-l mailing list
  Foil-l at insaf.net
  http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/foil-l_insaf.net





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Yahoo! Answers 

__._,_.___ 
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic 
Messages | Files | Photos 
Socialist Pakistan News (SPN) is managed by supporters of Weekly Mazdoor Jeddojuhd and Labour Party Pakistan 
 
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) 
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional 
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity
  a..  21New Members
Visit Your Group 
SPONSORED LINKS
  a.. Pakistan 
  b.. Pakistan calling card 
  c.. Pakistan long distance 
  d.. Pakistan phone card 
  e.. Call pakistan 
2008 Election
For President

Who are the 

contenders?

Y! Messenger
Files to share?

Send up to 1GB of

files in an IM.

Yahoo! Mail
Next gen email?

Try the all-new

Yahoo! Mail Beta.
. 
__,_._,___ 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070509/0bc95b7b/attachment.html>