As Nicolas Sarkozy's longtime quest to become French president heads into its final stretch, the combative interior minister faces the treacherous task of uniting fractious conservatives in a country desperate for change and anxious about competition from rising powers like China.
Sarkozy was consecrated on Sunday as the ruling party's presidential nominee, pitching him into a close battle against fellow front-runner Segolene Royal, a charismatic Socialist who would be France's first woman president. She too faces a test in uniting her camp for the two-round election in April and May.
Sarkozy's nomination was no surprise: He was the only person on the ballot for the UMP party's vote. But the formal anointment further sidelines President Jacques Chirac, the party's founder and one-time Sarkozy mentor.
The French are eager for new direction, and their next president will herald a new era after 12 years under Chirac, unpopular and unlikely to seek a third term. France is discouraged, worried about the rise of economic challenges from China and uncertain about how to reach out to unemployment-stricken blacks, Arabs and Muslims.
"I want to be the president of a reunited France," Sarkozy said in his acceptance speech before an estimated 70,000 people at the nomination convention. "Globalization requires us to reinvent everything -- to think of ourselves as compared to others."
His speech struck a conciliatory tone unusual for a man known for straight talk and, critics say, obstinacy.
"I'll need -- and France will need -- everybody here," Sarkozy said, standing among enormous screens and crowds of banner-waving fans as the 3.5 million euros [US$4.5 million], US-style political convention began.
Sarkozy, unlike Royal, has firm policy positions on nearly every subject. He has earned both kudos and vitriol for vowing to cut cherished workplace protections, championing tough police tactics in hardscrabble housing projects and dispatching illegal immigrants back to Africa and elsewhere.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was