Episode 1 – 2007: The right conquers the Elysee Palace; Gaullism loses its grip.
Sarkozy invulnerable
He is the only one of his opponents. The only one that Jacques Chirac, weakened by a more serious stroke than anyone had thought, will not have managed to eliminate.
Indeed, Jacques Chirac absolutely did not want Nicolas Sarkozy to succeed him. He did not appoint him Prime Minister. Since Alain Juppé was temporarily out of the running, he initially tried to send the talented minister Hervé Gaymard to counter it. But this solution collapsed in a case involving a leased office space that was inflated and whose communication was not controlled. The Minister may as well have paid for everything out of his own personal funds (even though he was under no obligation to do so), but the damage was done.
Jacques Chirac then accelerated the hypothesis. Villepin by appointing him Prime Minister. Things initially proceeded as planned. But Villepin will not stand up to the Contrat Première Embauche (CPE), which will mobilize all the youth until its repeal, a measure that is unnecessary one year before a presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy, as a political figure, will more or less discreetly throw more oil on the fire, with success. Villepin was out of the running.
Having resisted everything with undeniable strength, convinced of his destiny, Nicolas Sarkozy imposes himself and conquers the Elysee Palace.
A form of political alternation
But Let us not be mistaken; this is indeed a form of alternation.. On May 16, 2007, I was in the audience to bid farewell to Jacques Chirac; I then discovered that the Sarkozy supporters were booing him and even insulting the limousine of the outgoing President. The right has just won power; the Gaullists have just lost it. The undisputed champion of the right, Nicolas Sarkozy with more than 31% votes in the 1st rounder Tour took victory triumphantly when Jacques Chirac had to settle for a best result of 20.8%.
A large part of the right was happy to vote for a classical right-wing man rather than a Gaullist at 75% and a Rad Soc at 25%. Besides the generational change, it is another right that takes power in 2007.
A right-wing party that has shown no responsibility whatsoever under General de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, or any other leader; whose model is in no way different from that of the British Conservative Party or the CDU. The Gaullian specificity is disappearing. The time has come for right-wing policies and populism, while pretending to denounce them.
RPR activists have always been much more right-wing than their leaders. Militantism means embracing a cause with fervor and, sometimes, without restraint or moderation. But the leaders they call Chirac, Séguin, Pasqua, Juppé, Toubon, were paying close attention.. The RPR will be a great gathering where the lieutenants will embody different sensibilities while being united on the essentials. Leaders will not hesitate to take the initiative if the general interest so requires. It is up to them to keep the course and then convince the activists and supporters.
With Nicolas Sarkozy, the militants take power and the UMP party line becomes closely dependent on the base. A very right-wing base. It is they who decide the political line of the party and the leaders engage in verbal competition to please them without ever surprising them.
The Gaullist political line and the Gaullist practice of the Institutions are fading away
Gaullist specificities are disappearing whether it is in the foreign policy completely aligned within the Western bloc or the institutional practice. The President is no longer an arbiter in charge of the essentials but the true head of the executive, the Prime Minister becoming his «collaborator». The presidential majesty fades away, The pre-made formulas or the uninspired retorts, verbal bickering, desacralize the function. «A France rich in its diversity» gives way to a France where the foreigner is inherently suspect. In a France where social and national cohesion is threatened, there will be not a single year that is not marked by riots.. The national identity is clumsily placed at the center of the debate, it will only exacerbate the antagonisms and tensions, rather than weakening the National Front.
The sanctions are not long in coming; all the intermediate elections are resounding failures. Nicolas Sarkozy will not dare to try the ultimate electric shock before the 2012 presidential election Change of Prime Minister. Indeed, François Fillon, the outsider, will manage to stay in the running. The polls show that Nicolas Sarkozy is losing. The right’s only remaining asset remains its undeniable ability to lead and to campaign. But the other side is a massive rejection, as rarely seen until now by those who are not convinced. Nicolas Sarkozy remains extremely divisive, even in a presidential suit.
The presidential party that Jean-François Copé took over in late 2010 despite some reluctance on the part of Nicolas Sarkozy, the relationship between the two men being abysmal, has the mission to get ready for battle for 2012.
TO BE CONTINUED….
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