Battle Royal for French Presidency
It was the last chance saloon for Segolene Royal to knock Nicolas Sarkozy off his perch as odds-on favourite to win the French Presidency on Sunday.
The head to head television debate was watched by 20 million French people and turned into a Battle Royal between the candidates.
Sego went on the offensive, clearly hoping to get the volatile Sarko to lose his temper and confirm the fears of many French people about his temperament. Sarko was aware of this and behaved himself admirably, although the temptation to reach across the table and throttle Segolene must have been on his mind. It was an enthralling encounter and gripped a French nation that produced an 85 percent turnout in the first round.
Generally, it was counted a draw among the commentators, with neither candidate scoring a knockout blow, and 86 percent of voters claiming that they won’t change their minds before polling day.
Three opinion polls after the debate showed good leads for Sarkozy, who now seems well set to assume the leadership of France on Sunday.
A Royal Presidency now seems unlikely, so Royal Anecdotes can stop reporting politics in France.
Unless, of course, there’s a big upset on the day.
The more I read about these two candidates, the more I believe that Sarkozy will be a better leader for France. The last thing the French Ship of State needs is a socialist at the helm.
By Gigi on May 4th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
We’ll know on Sunday evening with the exit polls, Gigi.
By John on May 5th, 2007 at 10:54 am
The last thing the French Ship of State needs is a man who works for himself instead of working for France, who tries to make people scared about everything, and who wants to establish competitions between people inside companies, and who wants to convince people that wellness is less important than money. Unfortunately I think he will win. He is omnipresent since 5 years, no one couldn’t compete with him at this stage.
Bouh ouh ouh.
By Lilyfromfrance on May 5th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Never mind, Lily, we’ve had to put up with the useless Tony Blair for 10 years. Thankfully he’s resigning next week. We’ll send you Gordon Brown (Blair’s likely replacement) and you send us Sarko.
By John on May 5th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
It works for me. I’m going to buy a gift wrapping for Sarko, it will be easy since he is only 5′7′.
Anyway, thanks for the gift, but previously you should tell Brown that he must accept France makes money with euros… and tell him it would be great if he brings some good true Scotch whisky with him. It would be the back of the Auld Alliance
By Lilyfromfrance on May 5th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
We’ll despatch Brown in a tartan kilt, Lily. He doesn’t agree with the euro, so he’ll probably put you back on francs — or maybe the pound. You will do much better then.
As for Sarko, he will be under strict instructions to bow to the Queen and only lose his temper in Parliament where we can all see it.
By John on May 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Lily, my dear, recollect! You cannot truly wish to have France run by Gordon Brown!! Just the thought is highly distasteful. He will be no serious problem in Britain because the House of Commons will control him if he steps out of line, but in France, I fear Gordon would run amok!
By Gigi on May 5th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Ha ha, Gigi. You’ve got him banged to rights. Gordon in France would be like a duck-billed platypus in the Kentucky Derby.
By John on May 5th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
A man who describes immigrants as scum is good for France… HOW?
By kit on May 7th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Sarkozy didn’t say immigrants were scum, he said the people who rioted were.
By John on May 8th, 2007 at 8:40 am
We have our Margret Tatcher now
Kit is right. 2 years ago Sarkozy has decided suddenly at 9pm to visit Paris subburbs and has insulted young immigrants’ children who live there, without no particular reason. Thats why the huge riots in Paris since 2 years. No surprises, all was planned. Sarko is everywhere since 5 years and has installed a tension climate in France, the French people are scared since 5 years and I still don’t know why. It’s subtil. It’s a thing that people who don’t live here can’t know. Sarko’s best friends are the 3 big media’s bosses. Hard to compete with that.
If you look what regions of France has voted massively for Sarkozy, you will see: south of France, that means Cote d’Azur, Rhones Alpes, Var, and the East of France, that means Lorraine, Alsace and Champagne-Ardennes. These regions are called the racist ones. So if I was him I wouldn’t be proud of my victory. As I said, the man works for him, not for France, now he is elected, he went on holidays. I don’t like Sego but at least she was less bad that him. I would like to correct something that I saw in american tv: the socialists are not communists!
By Lilyfromfrance on May 8th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Oh. That’s ok then.
By Kit on May 8th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
So France Profonde is racist, Lily? These days there are so many British people there, it’s hard to know which is which or who is who.
Traditional France is obviously upset by all this, which is why many of them are coming to England.
By John on May 8th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
La France profonde looks like la Grande Bretagne profonde. Both people can be racist. But the weird thing is here in France they are “concentrated” in some regions which are openly racists. Too bad. These regions voted massively for Sarko.
As for the French people moving in England, it’s because it’s a very dynamic country. Just like the opposite for the British people who are living in France, they search a quiet peaceful life here.
By Lilyfromfrance on May 8th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Well said, Lily, I agree with all of that.
But if they hadn’t voted for Sarko, they would probably have followed Le Pen, who would be much worse. No?
By John on May 8th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Of course it would have been worse. LePen’s score in 2002 was enormous, so thats why Sarko has seduced LePen’s electors by making almost the same ideas. You know, in 2002, a big part of people who voted LePen was not racist, people were just fed up of the politics clap-trac and wanted a big change.
By Lilyfromfrance on May 8th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
He got more than 53 percent of a huge turnout of voters so clearly is the choice of France. My worry is his support of the new bogus European constitution of Angela Merkel, which seems to be rather like Blair’s “Dodgy Dossier” on the Iraq war. I find that alarming from our point of view.
By John on May 8th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
From France, what seems obvious is that Sarko wants France to adhere to the new European Constitution. Remember, the new EC which was stopped because France and Denmark said no in 2005. For Sarko and Merkel, it was a mistake to make a referundum for asking people if they want to adhere or not. What Merkel wants to do is to relauch the EC without any referundum. Sarko does agree. Better for the economy thats all. The only interesting question is if Turkey will enter in EC or not. I don’t know what was Uk’s point of view about this. What do you think, Brits?
By Lilyfromfrance on May 8th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
I am not British, but as an American, I know that social instability cannot be cured in a country where there is financial instability. France must put itself back on a firm financial footing, reclaim market share for it’s commerce, and solve it’s rapidly rising unemployment rates. If Sarkozy can solve these problems (and it appears he knows the way to do this), then he is, at this time, the leader France needs to help her move forward. No country in the world has more immigrants than the US because we are a nation entirely populated by immigrants, and that is our strength as well as our blessing. Neverthless. immigrants must be able to feed and clothe their families and feel welcomed and valued in the country of their choice. If they are not, feelings of hopelessness and bitterness arise and can create serious violence. Sarkozy must find a way to assist these diverse newcomers to blend seamlessly into the fabric of French life.
By Gigi on May 8th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Lily, the British are entirely against a European constitution. There is now a substantial majority for complete withdrawal from the EU — and I agree, for what it’s worth.
Blair promised us a referendum on it but reneged when France and NL voted it down. Now he’s helping Merkel set it up again and says we won’t have a referendum. It’s a typical piece of crookery from Blair and we despise him for it.
If Gordo had any guts he’d announce an immediate referendum on it. But he’s silent on everything. Is that democracy?
By John on May 9th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Well John, I think nor UK nor any European country will have a referundum. The European dirigeants were very angry when France and Denmark voted no. Merkel is determined to relauch the new EC. She has prepared everything with Sarko aleady. I guess she has done the same with the next PM of UK.
Gigi, alas, the miracle drug for unemployment doesn’t exist. The problem is, in France, many companies decide to relocate in Asia or in the East of Europ, because working force is cheaper there. How can you fight this? Sarko is friend with all big bosses here, so he already knows he couldn’t fight the problem. He said, you want more money, then you have to work more. Ok, but where? As for the immigrants, I really feel sad for them. If Sarko would come under my windows for insulting me I would probably enrage. His behavior toward them was innacceptable. Ofcourse burning cars is too stupid and this is not an answer, but these people are really desperate. France is obsessed with the idea of fraternity but no one wants to help them. During the debate with Royal, he finally recognised that his method failed, but I find his behavior very strange, for a son of an immigrate himself.
Now that Sarko is elected, he is on holidays in Malta, you see, while yesterday was the annual commemoration of the 8 may 1945. He is already criticized here. There are rumours that his holidays are paid by tax payers. Thats not what I call being effective. I can see a lot of people outside France who believe in him, even my cousins in Britain said they envied France. Ah ah, if the things would depend on me, then I would send you Sarko right now. Well anyway, we are here for talking about the Monarchy…
By Lilyfromfrance on May 9th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Britain needs to withdraw from the European Union as soon as possible, in my view. The countries and peoples of Europe are too diverse for the “One World” concept the EU requires, I feel. Hammering out a constitution that can be agreed upon by all the countries of Europe is a daunting task, and personally I don’t believe it can be done. The constitution of the United States was created only after tremendous debate, argument and advocacy, the personal emnity from which lasted for years. The task could never have been completed except for two incredibly miraculous coincidences: Thomas Jefferson, who wrote it, was a genius, and Benjamin Franklin, who argued the material points, was a diplomat.
By Gigi on May 9th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Absolutely, Gigi. One-size-fits-all never pleases anyone and lowers standards all round.
The American constitution was put together by similar people, with the same language, living in fairly primitive conditions. Even then it was difficult.
Europe has 25 well-established nations — some very ancient — and with 25 different languages. Even to attempt a constitution is bordering on madness.
By John on May 9th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Very true, John. Actually, the Founding Fathers who created our Constitution were wealthy landholders, living in relative comfort and ease (for that day and time) in plantations or comfortable town homes, but your point about the common language they shared is a good one. I may be shortsighted but I do not understand why some feel strongly that it would benefit the ancient states of Europe to become homogenized. Regarding an EU constitution, the only man I can think of who might have had the ability to create a constitution for the EU and bring the process of ratification to fruition is Sir Winston Churchill. He, of course, is unavailable for the foreseeable future, as he resides in Heaven.
By Gigi on May 9th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Lily - is Grenoble racist? It looks like such a beautiful town and I am hoping to visit.
Thanks for the background politically… very sad. I fear for those of ethnic origin after this vote… the arabs most particularly.
By kit on May 11th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Nooooo… Kit, you can come as you want in France! Im sorry if I ever made a sad portrait about France. People who live in suburbs are desperate and burn cars sometimes, but this is not a war. As I can see foreign medias exaggerate a lot. I said that there are many racist regions in France but thats just some old or frustrated people, they are not dangerous! They are not going to hit you if you would wear a burqa
Don’t worry, Grenoble is not famous for being “racist”, but because of its mountains and his countless churches 
By Lilyfromfrance on May 11th, 2007 at 6:25 pm