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Sarkozy's chance to live up to his ambitions
Nicolas Sarkozy is a populist and an economic liberal. Those two themes fought it out in his brief time as France's finance minister. He is also highly ambitious. That theme took the upper hand at the end of the summer. He is leaving the cabinet in order to run the UMP party and prepare for a presidential campaign.
That is a sharp move for a future national leader.
Sarkozy would have liked to be prime minister. And he would have liked to stay in the cabinet while running the party. But president Jacques Chirac does not like him. He was not able to get rid of Sarkozy – the man is too popular – but he was able to make him choose between the cabinet and the party. Sarkozy chose the party. And Chirac was forced to endorse his candidacy.
That choice makes sense for this ambitious politician, for three reasons.
First, he can leave the finance minister post while being counted a success. Sarkozy's response to higher than expected tax revenues has been firm. He has resisted pressure to use the money to expand social programmes.
Economic mistakes
The government's interventions in Alstom and Sanofi were economic mistakes but politically popular. And bringing the government's stake in France Telecom to a minority salvaged some of Sarkozy's liberal credentials.
Second, the UMP is a good place to be. Chirac created the party out of two warring right-wing groups. It has no clear ideology but great political power. If Sarkozy can win over the party's extensive grass roots, he will be assured of the presidential candidacy in 2007.
Finally, leaving the cabinet allows Sarkozy to look like a statesman. Without having to make tough decisions – for example about the sharply contested privatization of EdF – he can offer wise comments and soothing words. And he can speak about everything, not just finance.
Planning for power and looking presidential will be enough to keep Sarkozy busy for the next two years. But he should spare a few moments to think about what sort of president he really wants to be.
He has been a youthful challenger for the past 20 years. If he can become an effective leader who avoids demagoguery, he might live up to even his own vast ambitions.
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