Nicolas Sarkozy: A French Paradox

Sarkozy stalwarts note he's only halfway through a five-year term — often a difficult period for a President. Things may look brighter by the time the 2012 election rolls around. Or maybe not. France's Socialist Party remains dysfunctional and divided, it's true, but recent polls suggest that Dominique Strauss-Kahn — a socialist who currently heads the International Monetary Fund in Washington — would beat Sarkozy were a vote held today.

Some conservatives are worried enough that they're taking action. In early November, former conservative Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin led a revolt in France's upper house of parliament by refusing to back Sarkozy's pet bill that would have ended a particular tax on businesses. Though Raffarin agrees with lower taxes in principle, he's been joined by two other former conservative leaders — and most of the 37,000-plus mayors of France — in ridiculing the idea of eliminating one of the main sources of income for regional and local governments before a more general reform of those bodies. Sarkozy risks a similar insurgency over a justice-reform bill which will eliminate the position of independent investigating magistrate and place power in the hands of politically appointed state prosecutors. Read: "Reburying Albert Camus: A Political Ploy by Sarkozy?"

Neither measure, leftist and conservative critics complain, was part of Sarkozy's original platform; both were hastily put together and poorly thought through. "Sarkozy's problem is that when he promised 'rupture' with the past during his campaign, he built expectations that go farther than merely revolutionizing the language and methods of governing by actually conceiving and shaping a new face and vision of France," Muzet says. "In many ways, Sarkozy reflects the contradictions of the French themselves: demanding both free markets and social job protection, wanting modernity and tradition, and wanting fast results with no pain. But those are the very hypocrisies voters elected Sarkozy to combat with his own viable vision for France — not take on for use as his own, inconsistent governing style."

The President will need to convince voters he's still the man to do the job quickly, or there may be a new headline after the next election: "Whatever Happened To Nicolas Sarkozy?"

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