Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s newly elected president, takes office on May 16. Not for the French a two-month transition following elections, as in the United States. He will then announce a prime minister and a government that could remain in office for less than a month — if French voters decide to balance a conservative presidency by voting for the Socialist Party in the upcoming parliamentary elections in June. However, the prevailing view in Paris is that Ségolène Royal’s defeat in the presidential run-off has left the socialists bruised and weakened. Sarkozy’s party, the Union for a Popular Movement, therefore, stands […]
No U.S.-Style Transition in France: Sarkozy Starts Work Next Week
