Ambitious French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday used the defeat of the government's controversial youth employment law to position himself as the hope for French reform and for next year's presidential elections.
Sarkozy was presented in the French media on Tuesday as the only survivor of the political "shipwreck" after President Jacques Chirac caved in to street protests and scrapped a new youth employment law.
The president's move handed a victory to France's trade unions and was a blow to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Chirac's preferred presidential successor.
In an interview with Le Figaro, Sarkozy vowed to stick to his potential presidential slogan: the need for la rupture -- a "clean break" with France's economic and social model -- by introducing sweeping reforms to bring the country into line with the global market place.
"Rupture is now more needed than ever," he told Le Figaro.
Asked by Europe 1 radio whether the millions who took to the streets in protest at the government's controversial measure to combat unemployment showed that France was impossible to reform, he said: "I don't think the French refuse reforms. The French accept change but want to be assured that it is fair. They found these proposals unfair."
His interviews were the latest in a string of media appearances designed to present himself to the electorate before the center-right UMP party chooses its candidate next January.
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