Go Sarko, go!

Now that he’s won the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy will have to shake things up and demand from the French that they seriously start working. This means that for his presidency to be a success, the entire population will have to embrace a bundle of sacrifices. First, the French will have to work more, something they expect a bit, but also work harder for more years in their life, as the French retirement fund is as bankrupt as in any other western nation. In addition, the entire population will have to expect less coming from its central government as the overtaxed social safety net must be unloaded drastically.

In the meantime and for the next weeks, Nicolas Sarkozy will also have to tap into his “political capital” or election momentum to make sure a majority of his countrymen and women elect a legislative chamber that supports his program and prevent a socialist, along with a centrist majority, to play havoc with the reforms he wants to implement. The heavy workload he says he loves can’t just be brute force; it will also require a sensible strategy able to “sell” the French on a medicine they badly need.