Sarkozy the Savior?

By Paul Belien

During the presidential campaign his Socialist opponent, Segolene Royal, warned that a Sarkozy victory would lead to violence in the Muslim neighborhoods. The French refused to be intimidated into appeasement and rose to the occasion. French men and women who normally do not vote because they distrust politics turned out en masse to elect “Sarko.” The “thugs” have since begun to ambush police and no longer refrain from shooting at officers, but the Sarkozy government had not clamped down on them.

Today, 10 months after his victory, Mr Sarkozy’s approval rate has tumbled from 65 to 38 percent. He has not lived up to his promise to reclaim France’s lost territories from the “thugs.” Moreover...... (read more)