Nicolas Sarkozy and France’s opposition
萨科奇和法国反对党

All the president’s enemies
萨科奇：四面楚歌
May 28th 2009 | PARIS
From The Economist print edition

Why French politics is turning nasty and personal
为什么法国政界越来越危险，充斥着人身攻击

WHEN President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced a tough law earlier this month to cut off internet access for those who illegally download music and films, it ought to have appealed to France’s arty left. It has long cherished the “French cultural exception”, the idea that culture has a special value and needs protection.

这月早些时候总统尼古拉•萨科奇提出了一项严格的法律，禁止进行网络非法下载音乐及电影，这应该会受到“爱好文化”的左翼人士欢迎。法国长期以来都遵循“法国文化例外”原则，即文化拥有特殊价值并应受到保护。

French singers and actors urged the opposition Socialists to back the law. In the end, though, the Socialists voted against it, as did the Communists and Greens. And many did so because of their antipathy to the man who devised the law: Mr Sarkozy. “Systematic anti-Sarkozysm can make us lose our common sense,” commented Jack Lang, a former culture minister and the only Socialist deputy to vote in favour.

法国歌手及演员敦促反对党社会党支持该法。然而最终社会党还是投了反对票，共产党及绿党也是如此。而许多人是出于对提出此法的萨科奇的厌恶才这样做。“彻底的反萨科奇主义会使大家失去判断力。”前文化部长即唯一投赞成票的社会主义党成员杰克•朗如是说。

Two years into Mr Sarkozy’s term in office, intense and obsessive dislike of the president—anti-sarkozysme—is fast becoming the defining feature of French opposition politics. This goes beyond the president’s poor popularity rating, which fell another four points to 32% in May, according to TNS Sofres. In the election for the European Parliament, due on June 7th, the subject is not so much the future of Europe as Mr Sarkozy himself. The Socialist Party, for instance, is campaigning on an anti-Sarkozy platform. One of its slogans is “Stop Barroso, stop Sarkozy!”, a dig at both the presidents of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso (considered too liberal in economic policy) and of France. On the far left, the New Anti-Capitalist Party is calling for a “vote against Sarkozy and the Europe of capitalists”.

萨科奇任职两年以来，对他持续强烈的厌恶——反萨科奇主义——迅速成为法国反对党的重要特征。这远远超过了萨科奇可怜的支持率，据泰勒尼尔逊-索福瑞市场调研机构（TNS Sofres）统计，萨科奇支持率于五月又下降4个百分点至32%。在6月7日将举行的欧洲议会选举中，与其说其主题是欧洲的未来，倒不如说是关于萨科奇本人。譬如，社会党正发起反萨科奇运动，其中一个标语是：“巴罗佐下台，萨科奇下台！”，矛头同时指向欧盟委员会主席若泽.曼努埃尔.巴罗佐（José Manuel Barroso，被认为在经济政策上过于宽松），及法国总统。而更为激进的新反资本主义党则呼吁“投票反对萨科奇及资本主义欧洲”。

Or take François Bayrou, a centrist leader, who kicked off his campaign by publishing a vitriolic book entitled “Abuse of Power”. Describing France under Mr Sarkozy as an “egocracy”, he refers to the president variously as “a blind monarch” and “a barbaric child”, who “believes himself all-powerful and imagines that the world starts with him and is in his hand”. Magazines devote many pages to analysing the president’s psychological make-up. The French blogosphere, too, is filled with caustic anti-Sarkozy commentary, mocking everything from his taste for Rolex watches to his overbearing posse of bodyguards and his tough policies on crime.

或者看看中间派领袖白鲁（François Bayrou）的看法，他出版了一本尖刻的名为《权力的滥用》的书，开始了竞选运动。他将萨科奇领导下的法国称为“自我主义”，给总统冠以多种名号：“盲目的君主”以及“野蛮小孩”，他“相信自己是全能的，世界始于他并为自己所掌握”。各杂志花费大量版面分析萨科奇的心理构成。法国博客圈也充斥着尖刻的反萨科奇评论，从他对劳力士表的品味到气势汹汹的保镖和在犯罪上的强硬政策。

Some of this antipathy stems from genuine differences over policy. Mr Sarkozy was elected with a bold reform programme that broke with the consensual ideas of his fellow Gaullist predecessors, and many elements remain controversial. His attempt to shake up the centralised university system, for example, is fiercely contested by the left, which considers the whiff of competition to be an assault on the republican principle of standardised higher education for all.

这种反感部分源于政策上的分歧。萨科奇竞选时提出一项大胆的改革，这与戴高乐主义的前任观点相去甚远，改革中的许多内容仍备受争议。比如，他企图打破中央大学系统，这引起左派的强烈反对，他们认为这破坏了所有人都能享受标准化高等教育的共和国原则。

Often, however, laying into Mr Sarkozy is a convenient way for the opposition to disguise its own failures. The Socialist Party is divided and drifting. Martine Aubry, its leader, is not a member of parliament; Ségolène Royal, who is not its leader, behaves as if she is. Mr Sarkozy’s response to the recession is hard to criticise. He stepped in early to reassure the banks and put together a stimulus plan. More slippery still for the left, which is trying to accuse him of promoting savage free-market liberalism, he has targeted extra tax cuts and benefits on the low-paid and unemployed—with the help of Martin Hirsch, a left-wing anti-poverty specialist he recruited into government.

然而，反对党常常利用攻击萨科奇作为掩饰其失败的好方法。社会党处于分裂状态，飘忽不定。其领袖奥布里（Martine Aubry）不是议会的一员；而不是领袖的塞格琳 罗雅尔（Ségolène Royal）所作所为却如领袖一般。萨科奇对经济衰退作出的回应让人无可厚非。他介入得很早，以重振银行业，并形成了刺激计划。左翼政党更为狡猾，他们试图指责他在推动自由主义，他已经瞄准了再次减税以及低收入和失业人士的利益上，新纳入政府的左翼反贫困专家Martin Hirsch会协助他完成此目标。

Above all, it is Mr Sarkozy’s style and method of governing that prompts real passion. No president under the fifth republic has run so much directly from the Elysée Palace. Presidential advisers are as likely to decide policy as ministers. The prime minister’s job has been downgraded to that of manager. Mr Sarkozy’s network of business chums invites suspicions of cronyism. Moreover, by opening up his private life to public inspection, he has made his own behaviour, with all its quirks, a legitimate subject of debate in a way that would have been unthinkable in the past. He recently posted on Facebook a video of himself and two dogs dropping in on Carla Bruni, his wife.

首要的是萨科奇的管理风格及方法激起了真正的愤怒。法兰西第五共和国还没有总统直接从爱丽舍宫发号施令。总统顾问可以像部长那样决定政策。而总理只需要进行管理工作。萨科奇的商业好友圈子有任用亲信的嫌疑。而且，通过将私人生活开放给公众监督，萨科奇使他充满怪癖的举止成为广泛的讨论话题，这在过去是无法想象的。最近他在Facebook上公开了一段录像，是他带着两只狗拜访妻子卡拉 布吕尼（Carla Bruni）。

Thanks to a hefty parliamentary majority, anti-Sarkozysm is unlikely to translate into legislative trouble. If anything, economic discontent in the street and at the factory gate remains the greater worry. Support among Mr Sarkozy’s own electoral base remains solid. Indeed, the proliferation of parties on the left and centre means his UMP party may well come out top in the European election. The French may not much like their president. But they have yet to find anyone they like better.

多亏了法国人民运动联盟（UMP）在议会里面占了大多数席位，反萨科奇主义似乎不太可能转化为立法困难。即便有困难，更该担忧也是游行的民众及罢工的工人。萨科奇自己的选举基地的支持仍然很牢靠。实际上，左派党和中间派党的数目增加意味着法国人民运动联盟很可能会成为欧洲选举的领头羊。法国人民也许不太喜欢这个总统。但是目前仍未找到任何更好的人选。

《经济学人》（The Economist（http://www.economist.com））
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