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Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande was victorious in the French presidential election held on May 6. His will be the first left-wing administration in the country since Francois Mitterand left office 17 years ago, and the second since World War II. Hollande‘s election is evidence of how strongly the people of France wanted a departure from their current situation.
Vindictive voting is not unique to France. Eleven leaders of European Union countries have been shuffled out since the continent’s financial crisis erupted in 2009; Nicolas Sarkozy is the eighth Eurozone leader to be ousted in the past year or so. Ruling parties either lost or limped through in other European votes the same day, including general elections in Greece and Serbia and local elections in Germany. This could be a reaction against the impoverishment of the working class by neoliberal policies centering on competition, along with the welfare cuts and retrenchment that intensified after the crisis broke out.
The ouster of the French administration is a matter of great significance, given the global weight of France‘s politics, economy, and diplomacy. The focus now is on whether we will see changes to the Eurozone austerity policies of the so-called “Merkozy” alliance of Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel.
To date, Germany and France have pushed a strategy to overcome the crisis by reestablishing competitiveness through financial reforms involving cutbacks. With this latest election, the people of France delivered a resounding rejection of this approach. Among the major pledges Hollande ran on were high corporate and property taxes, subsidies for employment of the young and senior citizens, a reexamination of Sarkozy’s pension reforms, and balanced finances by 2017. The question now is how much he will be able to harmonize with the market and make these a reality.
In sharp contrast to the Washington-friendly foreign policy of the Sarkozy administration, Hollande is seen as almost certain to revert to the traditional emphasis on putting Europe first and checking the US. Observers are waiting to see the first glimpses of foreign policy under his administration at a combined NATO and G8 summit in Chicago on May 20 and 21.
As president, Sarkozy was all too similar to Lee Myung-bak. Like the South Korean leader, he imprudently pushed neoliberal policies that mimicked US-style deregulation, social service reductions, as well as pro-business, pro-wealthy policies. In its foreign relations and military affairs, his administration was more US-friendly than any other before it. This “red card” delivered by the French public against an administration that spent five years serving the wealthy and powerful provides a lesson for South Korea as December‘s presidential election approaches.
　
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