FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy went into election mode yesterday, setting out his economic platform and repudiating the left’s legacy on the eve of the Socialist Party’s presidential primary.
Martine Aubry, the socialists’ leader, is today expected to declare her candidacy in the party’s contest to choose a challenger to Mr Sarkozy in the presidential election next year.
The party primary has been thrown open by the arrest of one-time frontrunner Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and opinion polls show Ms Aubry is gaining ground on the current favourite for the nomination, former leader François Hollande.
Both would defeat Mr Sarkozy if an election were held today, surveys suggest.
Arguing that austerity alone would not lead to economic growth, Mr Sarkozy pledged €20 billion – part of a €35 billion “investment in the future” fund announced last year – for research and development in science, health and technology by the end of 2011.
It includes €1.6 billion for sustainable development, €2.4 billion for the health sector and – in a signal that France remains committed to its huge nuclear industry despite the Fukushima disaster – €1 billion for atomic power.
Mr Sarkozy said that in the past France had focused too much on redistributing its wealth rather than creating it – a return to one of the themes of his 2007 campaign.
He lamented how France had fallen behind Germany and said the country must close the gap with its neighbour.
“While we were opting for the 35-hour week, our German friends were choosing investment and competitiveness and, today, they have fewer unemployed, a lower deficit and higher growth,” he said.
Mr Sarkozy referred several times in his set-piece speech yesterday to the 35-hour working week, which was lowered from 39 hours in a reform steered through parliament by Ms Aubry when she was labour minister in the last socialist government.
The president said new investment was crucial because the debt crisis in Greece had shown that cutbacks were not sufficient for an economic rebound. “To overcome the crisis, we need cost cuts and higher growth. There is no better way to boost growth than innovation, research and investment.”
Although Mr Sarkozy’s approval ratings are still close to 30 per cent, they have risen slightly – for the first time in more than a year – since Mr Strauss-Kahn’s arrest in New York last month on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape.
The president was judged to have handled the aftermath of the arrest in a restrained way, while he has also benefited from a dip in the unemployment rate.
The field of opposition candidates hoping to run against him will become clear in the coming weeks, with nominations for the socialist primary opening today and closing on July 13th.
The frontrunners, Mr Hollande and Ms Aubry, have each won endorsements from prominent Strauss-Kahn allies and are almost neck-and-neck in the polls.
Ségolène Royal, the socialists’ defeated candidate in 2007, is hoping to close the gap on the leading pair during the long primary season that culminates in a vote, open to all registered left-wing voters, in October. Two younger party figures, Arnaud Montebourg and Manuel Valls, have also declared.