Change is Now

Change has arrived in France.  After 17 years of having the same political party in the President’s seat, France has voted for a man who has promised to take the country in a new direction. 

The incumbent President lost his position after a single term; the first since 1981. France’s direct vote placed François Hollande with a little less than a 2% margin; it may be slight, but landslide victories are rare.  Mr. Hollande takes the position of President in about a week, and in the next five years he has vowed to balance the budget, raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers, and lower the retirement age by two years for manual workers.  He promises to be a President for “all the people”.  The challenges before him are vast, both nationally and internationally, but he also has promised to restore social equilibrium in France and pull back from of the austerity that has steered the country for the last several years.

My opinion on this is that change is positive.  I’m not too sure what image the American media gave Nickolas Sarkozy, but from living here, on the inside, I can say he was not a man who governed for all the people.  Clearly put, I would not invite him to dinner.  After raising his own salary 180%, he provided tax breaks for the uber-rich, such as Liliane Bettencourt, the second most wealthiest person in France, (15^th most wealthiest in the world), reduced educational posts creating holes in the system where no substitutes were available, hence closing classes, and refused to raise the minimum wage, regardless that it was no longer feasible with the cost of living.  (During the last five years, the minimum wage did increase, but this was in accordance with French financial laws and against Mr. Sarkozy’s wishes.)  I saw a basic abuse of power, and a man who wanted to be a rock star, and not a politician.  His term made a mockery of the position of President and was used for vast personal gain.  So, the change is now.  The challenges are large, but I feel better behind a man who is leading the country with heart and not his ego.

“Too many divisions, too many wounds, too many ruptures, too many cuts have separated our fellow citizens from one another. That’s all finished.”  -- François Hollande, May 6^th 2012 in a speech thanking Mr. Sarkozy for his service to France.