I am not a fan of Sarkozy the man, but Sarkozy the president has impressed me in his first few days in office — and it is hard for me to admit this! He was voted into office with a clear mandate from the French populace, and now, he must be judged on results.
The new president is definitely a results-oriented man. To describe him as can-do is somewhat of an understatement! His choice of Cabinet is daring, politically astute and a definite break from tradition. The winds of change are definitely upon us.
The prime minister is François Fillon, an understated man and an efficient reformer. He complements President Sarkozy perfectly, both in temperament and in ideology. As rumbustious as Sarkozy can be, as quietly assured is his new prime minister. More pertinently, they both share the same vision for the modernization of France.
Sarkozy has already made good on several campaign promises. He has made the environment a priority and the appointment of the former Prime Minister Alain Juppé as his No. 2, overseeing an all-encompassing Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and Energy, is a shrewd political move. He has also made good on his promise of male-female parity in his Cabinet, or almost. There are seven women and eight men, but that excludes the prime minister and four male secretaries of state. Still seven out of twenty is pretty good going.
His most brilliant piece of political maneuvering is the appointment of Bernard Kouchner as foreign minister. The 67-year-old Kouchner is France’s most popular politician. He is a doctor who founded Médecins Sans Frontières and later Médecins du Monde. He has served as minister for health and also as UN special representative to Kosovo. As a woman, I find him charming, ebullient and attractive. As an Arab, I have some misgivings about the appointment of a staunch defender of Israel to the Quai d’Orsay. Kouchner is a humanitarian first and foremost, dedicated to putting human rights first. He believes in the principle of humanitarian intervention, a belief that national sovereignty is irrelevant to humanitarianism, that there is an overriding “moral right to interfere in someone else’s country”. It is this belief that made him one of only a handful of French politicians to support the war in Iraq. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was, in his view, just cause for the war. He is also, perhaps not surprisingly, profoundly pro-American, a trait he shares with his new boss. But they disagree on Turkey, Kouchner being a supporter of Turkey’s application to join the EU whilst Sarkozy believes there is no place for Turkey in Europe.
Moreover, and this is why his appointment is such a political coup, Kouchner is a socialist. Predictably, he has been accused of betrayal and been unceremoniously kicked out of the Parti Socialiste for accepting a job with the other side. He defends his decision by arguing, quite rightly, that foreign policy is bipartisan and that he will stay true to his political convictions. But you’ve got to have some sympathy for François Hollande, the leader of the Socialist Party. This is a mighty double blow as the country prepares for the legislative elections in June: Not only was Kouchner a popular figurehead for the Socialists, but he has also taken with him as secretary of state for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, a close friend of Hollande.
And so Sarkozy has made good on his election night promise to create an all-inclusive government. He has appointed senior ministers from across the political divide. There are four from the left: Kouchner and Jouyet plus Eric Besson who defected so spectacularly from the Socialists mid-campaign and Martin Hirsch, the former head of the charity Emmaus in France who is appointed high commissioner with responsibility for the fight against poverty. There is only one appointment from the center — the new Defense Minister Hervé Morin — but this is enough to steal François Bayrou’s thunder as he had campaigned on a platform of creating a multiparty government.
Perhaps the most important appointment, certainly one which resonates with historical gravitas, is that of Rachida Dati as justice minister. She is the first senior minister of North African descent. Born to illiterate parents of modest means, a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother, she fought through the barriers to get to where she is today. She is the classic how-to case: How intelligence and hard work can get you out of the most disadvantaged desperate situation and into one of the greatest offices of state. You can only admire the woman, or that is my view. Unfortunately, she too has been accused of betrayal. Many see her as someone who has sold out to be the token Arab in Sarkozy’s Cabinet, someone who is ashamed of her roots to the extent that she is willing to work with the enemy so to speak. I think that is grossly unfair. If it had been a token appointment, she would not have been handed such a key ministry. I also think she is a woman of principle. She believes that people from ethnic minorities or from underprivileged backgrounds should not cast themselves as victims and that hard work and natural ability can open the doors to success. The reality is that someone as brilliant as Ms. Darti was able to succeed despite her disadvantages, but many who have worked equally hard have found themselves firmly excluded from the establishment.
I also wonder how much of this criticism is hurled at her because she is a woman, and a woman in charge of the male bastion of justice no less. I think she must be applauded, as must her appointment. Those who doubt her should give her credit. There is certainly no doubting that she is ambitious and extremely capable. Now that she is in office, judge her by her deeds. Something that holds true not just for Rachida Dati but for this whole new French administration. Let’s give them some grace, see what they can do.
