FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy’s allies sharpened their attacks on the socialist François Hollande yesterday after new polls showed the incumbent struggling to narrow his rival’s lead just three months before the presidential election.
A modest recovery by Sarkozy in opinion polls earlier this month has stalled, and Hollande’s supporters believe their candidate has shaken off his lacklustre start to regain the momentum. The socialist’s campaign received a lift when his first major rally of the year, last Sunday, attracted 25,000 people and set the agenda for the week.
The gloomy mood within Sarkozy’s UMP party was compounded yesterday by reports claiming the president was openly contemplating defeat.
“For the first time in my life, I am facing the end of my career,” Sarkozy was quoted telling aides in a front-page Le Monde report headlined “Nicolas Sarkozy and the UMP seized by the fear of defeat”. Sarkozy has not yet announced he will stand, but senior UMP figures are already in campaign mode on his behalf.
Following a declaration by Hollande that his “true adversary” was the world of finance, French prime minister François Fillon accused the socialist of making “fairly criminal” arguments that allowed the public to believe the economic crisis could be resolved without their efforts. “The rhetoric from François Hollande is exactly the opposite to that of the president, who has shown bravery and responsibility,” Fillon said.
In a speech pitched at left-wing voters on Sunday, Hollande had promised measures to “conquer” the banks, including enforced separation of commercial and investment activities, a ban on financial products “not linked to the needs of the real economy”, a curb on stock options and a “real” tax on all financial transactions.
The 90-minute speech did not refer once to Sarkozy, but the socialist took every chance to contrast himself with the incumbent. “I like people, whereas others are fascinated by money,” he said, and later made virtues of his reputation for being a low-key consensus-builder.
Hollande will need to rally the fragmented left-wing vote to ensure he qualifies for the second- round run-off in early May. But in his speech he also looked towards the centrists all finalists must court, stressing his pragmatism and addressing issues such as crime and immigration, which are often problematic for his party.
UMP figures maintain they believe Hollande’s lead can be cut once the campaign formally begins in March. Asked yesterday about reports that Sarkozy was downbeat, French foreign minister Alain Juppé said: “I saw the president for an hour and a half this morning and he didn’t give me this impression at all. He seems totally determined to proceed to victory.”
Concerns within the UMP are driven by persistently poor poll results, which show Hollande’s vote holding steady and two outsiders who will take right-wing votes – Marine Le Pen of the National Front and François Bayrou of the centrist Mouvement Démocrate – gaining ground.
A BVA survey for Le Parisien yesterday showed Hollande was rated as “more credible” than Sarkozy on all major policy issues, including economic growth, jobs, poverty, education, crime and immigration. The only area where Sarkozy came out ahead was when respondents were asked who had the most “stature” and chose the president, at 46 per cent, over the socialist at 39 per cent.
In a poll by Ifop for the Journal du Dimanche last weekend, Sarkozy’s dissatisfaction ratings were at 68 per cent. This was two points worse than his December showing, and makes him one of the least popular presidents in the history of the current republic.
At the same point in the electoral cycle, the incumbents François Mitterand (1988) and Jacques Chirac (2002) had dissatisfaction ratings of 29 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.
“With 68 per cent dissatisfaction, Sarkozy’s task appears increasingly impossible,” Ifop said in its commentary.
The president is expected to announce measures to tackle France’s high unemployment and improve its competitiveness when he makes a television appearance on Sunday night. “Be patient,” he told party colleagues yesterday, according to leaks in Le Figaro. “I know it’s difficult right now, but I’m more determined than ever.”