French press review 6 May 2009

by Matthew Kay

Article published on the 2009-05-06 Latest update 2009-05-06 05:55 TU

For all of you who enjoy celebrating anniversaries, prepare the candles for the cake and a bottle of bubbly, because it's two years since Nick Sarkozy was elected to the top of the gallic political pile.

Communist l'Humanité obviously enjoys parties and couldn't help but spread the news across its Sarkozy front cover: "Sarkozy 2007 to 2009 - the man who gives to the rich" squeals its headline. Inside there's more than enough bitter prose to get the omnipresident's knickers in a twist.

"The enemy of the French model" is the headline on page 2. No prizes for realising that the communist sheet is not the biggest fan of Sarkozy.

The editorial laments that nothing in Sarkozy's mandate so far stands up to even the smallest amount of scrutiny, whether it's job security, spending power, housing, public services, civil liberties, or Europe. It's been a disastrous 2 years for the French, the paper writes.

The rest of the press' editorial teams have saved Sarkozy-bashing (or brown-nosing) for the inside pages.

Libération runs a double-page spread looking at Sarkozy's tenure through the eyes of cartoonists from across the world. Some of which are rather amusing.

Conservative Le Figaro's reference to Sarkozy's anniversary is tucked away in the editorial pages. The paper's tone is unashamedly apologetic. "Nick Sarkozy - a second wind?" questions the title.

The paper highlights that previous French presidents had ups and downs in their first two years. Giscard d'Estaing, Chirac, and Mitterand all had to deal with the difficulties of running France. Yes, Sarkozy has made mistakes in his first two years, says the paper, he was a little too "bling bling" at the beginning of his presidency and perhaps too impulsive. But, and here's the rub, he is the only man on the political horizon here for the job.

Happy anniversary Sarko...