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The election of Conservative candidate Sarkozy to the Presidency in France supposedly means warmer relations between France and the States. However, what does this mean for Canada as well? Any thoughts?
(IIRC, aren't we also a member of Le Francophonie- that French-led organization that includes all current and former French colonies in its members, much like we are also a member of the UK Commonwealth)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070506/wl_nm/france_election_dc
Looks like his election might also more friction to the global warming blame game/debate, if I read the last comment properly.
(IIRC, aren't we also a member of Le Francophonie- that French-led organization that includes all current and former French colonies in its members, much like we are also a member of the UK Commonwealth)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070506/wl_nm/france_election_dc
[Conservative Sarkozy to be France's next president
By Crispian Balmer
1 hour, 21 minutes ago
PARIS (Reuters) - Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy triumphed in France's presidential election on Sunday, sweeping aside his Socialist rival Segolene Royal on the back of a huge turnout that gave him a strong mandate for reform.
Tens of thousands of supporters flooded into central Paris to celebrate the victory which extended the right's 12-year grip on power in France, but also marked the start of a new era Sarkopzy replaces 74-year-old President Jacques Chirac.
Addressing cheering party faithful, a calm, restrained Sarkozy pledged to represent the entire nation and heal the divisions of a particularly bitter election campaign.
"To all those French who did not vote for me, I want to say that beyond political battles, beyond differences of opinion, for me there is only one France," he said.
With more than three quarters of ballots counted, Sarkozy had won 53.4 percent of the vote against 46.6 percent for Royal. Turnout was some 85 percent -- the highest since 1981.
Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, presented himself as the "candidate of work," promising to loosen the 35-hour work week by offering tax breaks on overtime and to trim fat from the public service, cut taxes and wage war on unemployment.
Although opinion polls regularly suggested many voters preferred Royal, they saw the uncompromising Sarkozy as a more competent leader with a more convincing economic program.
European Union leaders congratulated Sarkozy, who promised to put France back into the driving seat of Europe after the country voted down the EU constitution in a 2005 referendum, as well as saying France would be a friend of the United States.
"... Tonight France is back in Europe," he said.
TAKING OFFICE
Sarkozy is expected to take power on May 16 or 17, becoming the first French president to be born after World War Two.
He will then name a new government and launch into campaigning for June's parliamentary election, where he will seek a clear majority to implement his reforms.
"I hope Nicolas Sarkozy's government will include representatives of the center and some men and women of the left," former Labor Minister Francois Fillon, widely expected to be the next prime minister, told TF1 television.
The president is elected for five years, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, nominates the prime minister, has the right to dissolve the National Assembly and is responsible for foreign and defense policies.
Royal started the year as favorite, but a string of gaffes raised persistent doubts over her competency.
Ideological divisions in her own camp also meant she could never enjoy unified party support and Socialist heavyweights said on Sunday the left needed to undergo deep reform.
"We have a collective failure, a failure due to our archaism, a failure due to our non-renewal," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist former finance minister.
It was not clear what role Royal might play in the party.
VIOLENCE
The Socialists portrayed Sarkozy as a danger for France, saying he was authoritarian and likely to exacerbate tensions in the poor, multi-racial suburbs that ring many French cities.
They also accused him of fuelling 2005 suburb riots by promising to rid neighborhoods of what he said were the "scum" responsible for the troubles.
Thousands of extra police have been drafted in to patrol sensitive suburbs on Sunday and a Reuters correspondent in the southeastern city of Lyon reported clashes between police and leftist sympathisers.
By backing Sarkozy, voters showed they wanted a strong leader to resolve France's many problems, including high unemployment of at least 8.3 percent, falling living standards, job insecurity and declining industrial might.
He has promised a clean break with the policies of Chirac, once his political mentor, and says he will curb the powers of the unions and toughen sentencing for criminals.
On foreign policy, Sarkozy is more pro-American than Chirac, and immediately reached out to Washington on Sunday, saying he wanted to be a friend of the United States.
"I want to tell (the U.S.) that friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently, and that a great nation like the United States has the duty to not obstruct the fight against global warming but on the contrary to take the lead," he said.
(Reporting by Paris bureau)
Looks like his election might also more friction to the global warming blame game/debate, if I read the last comment properly.