Serious spectators
The new French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, collected the electorate’s votes promising for change. He immediately went on his way for a holiday after getting elected and started making plans for “change” on a yacht belonging to one of his friends.
Doubtless, he will not give an idea to the upcoming parliamentary elections in June because even today opinion polls show parties supporting him will collect 35 per cent among themselves against the Socialists in the first round of the elections. After the June elections, the new Parliament will almost surely be close to the President.
During and after his election Sarkozy has revealed his plans to handle the labor markets. This summer it is clear that both houses of parliament and the French people will have a hectic time.
Among Sarkozy’s reform plans, there are the projects to lift taxes on overtimes, to bring down the mortgage rates from revenue taxes, to guarantee the minimum municipal transportation services strikes, to take off from the five big trades unions the legal representation of all the working force, a uniform labor contract, reform on social security for the jobless, penalty measures for workers who twice refuse job proposals, to keep the rate limit for individual taxation to 50 percent.
Sarkozy and Turkey When we look at what Sarkozy tries to achieve and in the meantime his rejection against Turkey’s EU membership, we see a controversy there. France, one of the biggest economic forces in Europe, is not in a position to support non-productivity and the social market system any more, because she cannot compete with the strengthening and enlarging Atlantic-Pacific poles any more. Sensible people who see the reality in Europe say: “We cannot go on like this. Otherwise in the near future Europe will collapse.”
Sarkozy, in his way to reforming so many sectors, is facing the problems of several institutions who own public funds. In a sense, as the Americans say, he is on his way to transform France from a social market economy to a free market economy.
The interesting thing is that the French people are not interested in strikes, but the problem of public transportation during those strikes. Sarkozy will first negotiate the issue with big trade unions and then prepare legislations to regulate the problem of transportation during strikes.
This summer the atmosphere in France will be quite hot, it seems. Even the night Sarkozy was elected, 700 vehicles were burned in Paris. Segolene Royale had said: “There will be big upheavals if Sarkozy gets elected.” Those big upheavals may or may not happen, but the one thing that is certain is that the summer months are going to be too warm for France. But 53 percent of the French people voting for Sarkozy have voiced their wish for a transformation.
Turkey has been making her own reforms, similar to the ones Sarkozy is planning, for so many years. She tries to change the infrastructure of the economy. We, in our columns, and experts, in every occasion, have voiced the same necessities. The contradiction between Turkey and France is that Turkey also wants to make her own transformations and reforms. Then why does Sarkozy reject Turkey’s accession to the EU? Probably the answer is that the reason he doesn’t want Turkey within the EU is very political.
Changing Europe, changing Turkey Sarkozy may be very much concerned about the increase of the Moslem population in Europe. He may have further concerns that with this big population, one day the Moslems will get hold of first Europe’s economic, then eventually political sector. A country like Turkey, whose population is more than 99 percent Moslem, might have frightened Sarkozy. A country getting bigger with a population of 75 million people one day may even become highly technological. Then what happens, he may have asked himself.
Politicians need votes to come to power. To get these votes you have to have a good image in certain circles. Maybe it is not necessary to have a good image in Turkey today. But, in the near future you may have to create a new image for French business people who do business with Turkey. These business people may even pressurize Sarkozy to change his Turkey policies. We on our side, should not be reciprocal and say, “If you are against us, so can we be against you.”
Instead of acting impulsively like cheerleaders let us behave as serious spectators. But as I am aware of who has access to the VIP stalls, I’d better not open my mouth.