By Paul Belien
Friday, November 17, 2006
On Thursday night the French Socialists appointed Sgolne Royal, the 53-year old wife (or rather the "civil partner”) of party chairman Franois Hollande, as their candidate for the presidential elections next March. Royal, a mother of four, received the support of 60.62% of the party members who participated in the vote (82% of the total membership), despite the opposition of the misogynous party apparatus.
Royal unexpectedly quickly became a star in the party of her husband (or rather her "civil partner”), who until early last year was considered to be a potential candidate for the French presidency. While Hollande is a stiff and uncharismatic orthodox Socialist, Royal is glamorous and offers a mix of left and right populism. She is from a right-wing family of army officers (one brother worked for the French military intelligence and bombed the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in 1985, killing one of its passengers; some of her cousins are active in the Front National party). She is taking a tough position on crime, but at the same time has announced leftist economic policies which will "frighten the capitalists” and necessitate an increase in government spending of 32%. She also calls for European opposition to "the american hyperpower.”
Meanwhile the current center-right French President, Jack Chirac, feels vindicated by the american mid-term elections in his opposition to George Bush's Iraq policies. Chirac supports a proposal from the Socialist governments in Spain and Italy for a peace plan for the Middle-East, arguing that the European Union should assume the role of the key actor in brokering peace in the region, given President Bush's weakened domestic situation and the situation in Iraq.
Chirac seems so invigorated by current international and domestic events that he may even be contemplating running for a third term. His wife, First Lady Bernadette Chirac, told the French press that a five-year term is "very short.” When asked whether her husband would take up his seat at the Constitutional Council, as all ex-Presidents are entitled to do, she said "In five years! Do you hear me? In five years' time.”
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