Word: frenchness
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...years is an eternity in politics, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy discovered on March 21 when his conservative party was trounced in regional elections. The loss was a stunning reversal of the 2007 polls that propelled Sarkozy to the Elysée and gave conservatives large majorities in both houses of parliament. Sarkozy now has two years before the next presidential election to halt a resurgent left and win back disgruntled supporters...
...ministers) who ran in the polls were roundly defeated. "The President of the Republic, the government and its majority must take into account this thrashing defeat and recognize their failure," said 2007 Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, who triumphed in the Poitou-Charentes region. "The French people have spoken, and I believe they must be heard," echoed Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry. "Hearing the French people tonight means a profound change in policies...
Many on the right also joined leftists in criticizing Sarkozy's national debate on French identity. Detractors said it cast immigrants, ethnic minorities and Muslims as threats. The UMP had hoped to pick up extreme-right voters by co-opting some of the traditional themes of the extremist National Front (FN) party. But the debate only seemed to help the moribund FN bounce back; it took 17% of the second round vote in the 12 regions in which it qualified. (Read "Sarkozy Stands by France's Hated Immigration Minister...
...unveiled as a monumental act of the French Republic - a measure so important President Nicolas Sarkozy ranked it beside "decolonization, election of the President by universal suffrage, abolition of the death sentence and legalization of abortion" in the list of national accomplishments. Yet a mere seven months after making those lofty comparisons, Sarkozy this week decided to bury his vaunted tax on carbon emissions designed to help slow global warming. The move was the first policy fatality in the wake of the March 21 regional elections that handed leftist opponents a landslide victory...
...near refusal by rightist legislators to pass it until the Elysée whipped them into line in November 2009. A month later - just days before it was set to take effect - France's Constitutional Council struck the law down because it unlawfully applied measures to consumers while exempting French companies, by far the biggest carbon emitters. Sarkozy pledged to widen the measure to include businesses. But that only mobilized France's employers' lobby. With the voters finally having had their say, Sarkozy has decided to shelve the measure he once said would "save the human race." (See pictures...