To what extent may Sarkozy be considered a gaullist ?

Résumé du document

Exactly 50 years after the birth of the 5th Republic, the influence of its founder is still omnipresent in the organization of French politics. De Gaulle was not only the leader of French resistance during WWII and the leader of the "la France libre", solution to the Algerian crisis; he was also responsible for the origin of our current Constitution. He established a political tradition of practices and principles - that still finds echoes at the moment. From the UNR (Union pour la Nouvelle République) to the RPR (Rassemblement pour la République) and through the more independent Debout pour la République for instance, most political parties have made their "Gaullist? label prominent, since it is still very popular among voters. Thus Jacques Chirac, former French president from 1995 to 2007, clearly proclaimed his Gaullist inheritance. Yet, we can deny that the context has changed since De Gaulle's reign and therefore that the concept of Gaullism is highly dependent on the people using it. Nicolas Sarkozy, during his campaign until his present term in office, kept affirming from time to time his fidelity to De Gaulle's ideas. To what extent can his acts be considered faithful to this declaration? Can Sarkozy really be considered the contemporary incarnation of Gaullism as it was set up by De Gaulle? If not, does the parting come from the impossible adaptation of original Gaullism in today's world or in the special treatment of this idea by Sarkozy?

Extraits

[...] What is more, following De Gaulle's will to always put the country first Sarkozy's presidency shows itself able to overcome political divisions between right and left in order to support France's growth in these sluggish times. Thus De Gaulle said once “France is not the right wing; France is not the left wing. Now as ever I am not on any side, I am for France.”[2] Without denying its membership in the UMP, Sarkozy progressively adapted its domestic policy to be more flexible in the social field and thus better stick to contemporary needs. [...]

[...] To what extent can his acts be considered faithful to this declaration? Can Sarkozy be really considered as the contemporary incarnation of Gaullism as it was set up by De Gaulle? If not, does the parting come from the impossible adaptation of original Gaullism in today's world or in the special treatment that Sarkozy makes of this idea? The reputation of Nicolas Sarkozy's outspokenness is not usurped. He asserts himself heir of Gaullism and indeed, it shows in many of his political choices of domestic policy as much as foreign policy Nevertheless, the character of Sarkozy as much as the current situation leads eventually to an inevitable break with the original Gaullism. [...]

[...] For example, Sarkozy has never changed his position of considering the Iraq war as an “historical mistake”. He may want France to come back in NATO's integrated command De Gaulle was the one who retired in 1966, Chirac has tried before him without any success and anyway, France is only absent from two committees. Shortly, according to De Gaulle's “certain idea of France”, Sarkozy wants to use international institutions such as UE or NATO's as a tool to promote the greatness of France.[6] Many times, he has declared that he has the “conviction that France has an important perhaps even irreplaceable role to play on the international scene.”[7] However, the country's situation is not the same and diplomatic relations keep getting more complex. [...]

[...] And there, Sarkozy seems to find like a moral authorization to get away from De Gaulle's constructions in the name of Gaullism. Then, one of his main projects as a President is to partly reshape the 5th Republic Constitution as built by De Gaulle himself. So, this revision that occurred in July 2008 is one of the most important since the birth of our Constitution: never were so many articles concerned. Sarkozy considers these changes as indeed necessary to the longevity and the prosperity of the country, he said so : stay the 5th Republic, the 5th Republic must change”. [...]

[...] To what extent may Sarkozy be considered a gaullist ? Exactly 50 years after the birth of the 5th Republic, the influence of its founder is still omnipresent in the organization of French politics. De Gaulle was not only the leader of French resistance during WWII leader of France libre”, solution to the Algerian crisis, origin of our current Constitution; he established a political tradition practices and principles - that still finds echoes at the moment. From the UNR (Union pour la Nouvelle République) to the RPR (Rassemblement pour la République) through the more independent Debout pour la République for instance, most political parties have made theirs the Gaullist label, still very popular among voters too. [...]