French Presidential Election: Hollande Defeats Sarkozy, Socialist Returns to Power

France voted in a presidential run-off election on May 6 that could see Socialist challenger Francois Hollande defeat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy by capitalizing on public anger over the government’s austerity policies.

The election outcome will impact efforts to fight France’s debt crisis, how long the nation’s troops stay in Afghanistan and how France exercises its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

Sarkozy, punished for his failure to rein in record 10 per cent unemployment and for his brash personal style, is the 11th successive leader in the euro zone to be swept from power since the currency bloc's debt crisis began in 2009.

Jubilant left-wingers celebrated outside Socialist Party headquarters and in Paris' Bastille square, where revelers danced in 1981 when Francois Mitterrand became France's only other Socialist president.

Sarkozy Voted Out

Fifty-seven-year-old Hollande voted in his electoral fief of Tulle, in central France. Live television coverage showed politician shaking hands and chatting with voters on his way into the polling station. He will take office from May 16.

Leftists were overjoyed to have one of their own in power for the first time since Socialist Francois Mitterrand was president from 1981 to 1995.

Sarkozy is the latest victim of a wave of voter anger over spending cuts in Europe that has ousted governments and leaders in the past couple of years.

In Greece, a parliamentary vote on May 6 was seen as critical to the country’s prospects for pulling out of a deep financial crisis felt in world markets. A state election in Germany and local elections in Italy were seen as tests of support for the national governments’ policies.

In France, with 95 per cent of the vote counted, official results showed Hollande with 51.6 per cent of the vote compared with Sarkozy’s 48.4 per cent. The turnout was a strong 81 per cent.

Fall of Strauss-Kahn

Even a year ago, few would have expected to see Socialist candidate Hollande packing his bags for a move into the Elysee Palace.

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was seen as all but certain to be the Socialist candidate in the election, until his stunning fall from grace in May after sexual assault charges in New York.

At the time Hollande, a backroom deal-maker who led the Socialists for 11 years, was perhaps best known as the former partner of the party's telegenic 2007 candidate, Segolene Royal.

But he surged ahead during a US-style primary to beat rival Martine Aubry, appealing to the centre-left with with vows to be a consensus-builder, despite his only experience being as a local official in his adopted Correze region.

He has held an opinion poll lead over Sarkozy from the moment of his nomination and -- notwithstanding a few late surges in support for the incumbent -- never fell behind.

A protege of modernizing former European Commission Chairman Jacques Delors, Hollande is of the generation groomed under the only previous Socialist president, Francois Mitterrand, who left office in 1995.

Next Important Step

Hollande's clear win should give the self-styled "Mr Normal" the authority to press German Chancellor Angela Merkel to accept a policy shift towards fostering growth in Europe to balance the austerity that has fueled anger across southern Europe. His margin also positions the Socialists strongly to win a left-wing majority in parliamentary elections next month, vital to implement his plans for a swift tax reform.

If it wins that two-round election on June 10 and 17, the Socialist Party would hold more levers of power than ever in its

43-year history, with the presidency, both houses of parliament, nearly all regions, and two-thirds of French towns in its hands. Even before the results were declared, cheering crowds gathered at Socialist headquarters to acclaim the party's first presidential victory since Mitterrand's re-election in 1988.

Many waved red flags and some carried roses, the party emblem. In Bastille Square, flashpoint of the 1789 French Revolution and the left's traditional rallying point for protests and celebration, activists began partying two hours before the polls closed.

Hollande has promised more government spending and higher taxes - including a 75-per cent income tax on the rich - and wants to re-negotiate a European treaty on trimming budgets to avoid more debt crises of the kind facing Greece.

Hollande’s Life and Career Graph

Born in 1954 in the northern city of Rouen, Hollande was the son of a doctor with far-right sympathies and of a social worker.

His father later moved the family to Neuilly-sur-Seine, the posh Paris suburb where Sarkozy was also raised.

He was educated at the elite Ecole National d'Administration, where in 1978 he met Royal and the couple started a three-decade relationship.

In 1981, after Mitterrand swept to power, Hollande challenged Jacques Chirac -- who later became French president -- in his parliamentary fiefdom in the rural region of Correze, but lost.

Chirac, who once mocked Hollande as "less well-known than Mitterrand's Labrador", retains affection for his old rival and even said he would vote for the Socialist, though he later passed off his remark as a joke.

Hollande eventually won the seat in 1988 and was reelected in 1997, 2002 and 2007.

In 1997 he took over the Socialist Party leadership, a post he held until 2008 when he was replaced by former Labor Minister Aubry, also the daughter of his former mentor Delors.

Some had pushed for Hollande to take on Sarkozy in the 2007 race but Royal had already emerged as the leading Socialist nominee. The couple, who by then had four children, split before the vote but news of the break-up did not emerge until after Royal's defeat.

Hollande is now in a relationship with political journalist Valerie Trierweiler.

Concerns that Hollande was too mild-mannered and academic to take on Sarkozy disappeared as the race went on and he emerged as a tough campaigner, his speeches sprinkled with dry humor. His performance during the campaign's only face-to-face debate -- when he fended off an increasingly aggressive Sarkozy accusing him of "lies" and "slander" -- was particularly lauded.

2012: Year of Change of Big Powers’ Governments

US President Barack Obama has announced that he would contest the presidential election in 2012. Not only he, the leadership of four more permanent members of the UN Security Council is also facing election phase in their respective countries and the change of leadership may possible be seen. Obama announced to participate in the presidential election at a time when he recalled his bombers from Libya. But perhaps to fulfill his this promise or for the time being to show the American people that he intends to fulfill his promises, including the promises he had made in 2008 that he would call back the US troops from across the world, but it is the phase of producing the proof of his US citizenship. He is presenting his birth certificate.
Economic Crisis
British Prime Minister David Cameron too faces elections and perhaps he too may be far away from the success because his coalition government may face any economic crisis. There are signs of change in China as well. Xi Jin Yung will replace Hu Jintao there.
In the case of Russia, the election of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev depends on Vladimir Putin.
The success of the French president depends on his success in Libya and his office is at stake in the Libyan war.
As far as Obama is concerned, he still enjoys popularity and is moving fast and the killing of Usama Bin Laden has upped his popularity graph and history is with him. Republicans have yet not nominated their candidate. Perhaps, the 2016 election may be their target because currently they have no personality, who could compete with Obama. They are, however, definitely being accused in the US that they do not take hard stance against the enemies and ignore friends. If Sarah Palin emerged successful, it would be a historical jerk but its chances are very slim. For the success, Obama also needs success in Libya while the game of the chances of success in Afghanistan and withdrawal of troops from there will have to be played whereas in the US, there is talk of dialogue with 400 Taliban.
The Americans have made much investment on Russian President Medvedev, as they consider him a moderate person and supporter of a moderate policy. The Americans believe that he would avoid the policy of confrontation with the US because their problems too are of very serious nature. This is the reason that he avoids raising voice against the US and NATO because he is aware of the difficulties hovering around Russia. Their economy is not on sound footing and their population is decreasing. They too face threat from the Islamic extremists and they face the threat of the vacation of Siberia. As far as China is concerned, Obama knows that China is preparing to challenge them. It will definitely happen one day.
Correcting World Situation
The Americans are saying themselves that the US hunger that it correct the world situation or can lesson the difficulties of the world has died and it has started looking inwards. Then, the Americans know a little less about the incoming Chinese president but they are supporters of establishing relations on the economic lines.
1. The China challenging the US and the competition between the US and China is unavoidable. It is very important question as what arrangement Obama makes for it.
2. The Russian wholly depends on one vote of Vladimir Putin as to whether he supports the Russian president or not or he himself becomes the president. If he himself becomes the president, the difficulties may increase for the US but the affairs of Putin are not much good.
3. Third issue is of Afghanistan. This issue will be very important in the election campaign of Obama and that whether he starts fulfillment of his promise or not. The American people will definitely want to see it.
4. Last, the most important thing is that another major terrorism incident can change the entire global scenario. Any non-state actor may do anything such that the power game in the world can be turn down. The world may plunge into a global war or the tension may increase in the world. If the US president wins but the British and French rulers face defeat and in addition to Putin does not accept the pro-US president in Russia, the scenario may change. Bu after the arrest and humiliation of the International Monetary Fund Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of French origin, who was a candidate for the French presidency, in a sex scandal, the chances of the success of the incumbent French president have increased. Thus, the US president is advancing the game of next five years.