QuickPolitics

The general elections take part in the same electoral period as the presidential election. In fact, at first, the presidential mandate of five years was implemented in 2000 by referendum, replacing the seven-years term of office in force since the 20th November 1873 law. Then, the organic law of 15th May 2001 fixes on the third Tuesday of June the end of the powers of the National Assembly, five years after its election, that is to say a few weeks after the election of the President of the Republic. The explicit aim of this compatibility is to reduce the risk of cohabitation and confirm the principle of "subordinate legitimacy", the second election helping confirm the first. For the year 2012, five weeks separate the second round of the election of the President of the Republic, on 6th May, from the first round of the one of the French deputies, on 10th June.

These elections are also marked by two significative changes:

- a redrawing of the legislative constituencies of 2010 to take into account the evolution of the French demography and ensuing from  a demand of the constitutionnal Council, demand which has been renewed since 1999 to the different successive governments. The total number of deputies, 577, who now has been registered in the Constitution since the consitutionnal reform of July 2008, nevertheless keeps unchanged. 

- the election for the first time of deputies representing French people outside France. In fact the July 2008 constitutionnal reform establishes that <<French people ouside France are represented at the National Assembly and at the Senate>> (article 24).  Therefore a bill was presented in September 2008 at the council of ministers so that French people outside France now are represented at the National Assemnly with, if the bill is adopted as is, the election of deputies with majoritary uninominal ballot in two rounds (similar to the way of electing the other deputies) with new constituencies outside the French territory. Until now, French people abroad was ony represented at the Senate with 12 senators elected by the foreign French people Assembly. Those deputies will be able to be elected by the Internet, which made some parties react, in particular about the problem of the security of voting, the inability of counting votes and the possibility of compulsion of voters.

The Constitutionnal Council officially announced on Thursday morning the definitive results of the presidential elections. François Hollande has been elected with 51,6%, against Nicolas Sarkozy who got 48,4% of the votes. This represents 18 000 668 votes for the president elect and 16 860 685 votes for the outgoing president.

The president of the Council Jean-Louis Debré officially proclaimed the election of the Socialist Party candidate: << Thus the Constitutionnal Council proclaims François Hollande President of the French Republic. His mandate of five years, fixed by the Constitution, will start at the latest on the 15th of May at midnight >>.

Will follow the declaration of the patrimony of the new head of state to the Constitutionnal Council, which will be published on Friday in the official government register. In fact the law forces every president elect to make public this declaration, at the beginning and at the end of his mandate. Thus Nicolas Sarkozy had declared a little more than 2 million euros in 2007, and around 2,7 million euros on the 24th of Mars 2012.

François Bayrou

His program: "La France solidaire"

François Bayrou has called his program "La France solidaire" - The United France. He wants French people to be united around the great values of France, i.e. liberty, equality and fraternity, to overcome the crisis. French people are responsible for their destiny. His program has three main axes:

1) Re-establish the public finance. Aim: to reduce spending by 50 billion of euros and increase revenues by 50 billion, in order to re-equilibrate the budget. For that purpose, he wants to

- Maintain the level of the public spending  in 2013 and 2014 at the level of the expenditure in 2012

- Re-examine all the missions and the organization of the State (subsidiaries…)

- Strike a deal of financial moderation with local authorities, clarify the skills and equivocate some services

- Strenghten and rationalize some national health insurance spending (re-organization of services and sickness benefits)

- Abolish some tax breaks, such as the tax of revenue break for additional hours 

- Increase the VAT by one point in 2012

- Change the name of wealth tax

- Create a tax on the international financial transactions with the European partners

- Implement a High Authority to watch tax evasion.

2) Product

- Create a production-friendly environment by implementing a National Strategies Office, simplifying administrative strains for companies, matching big companies and small businesses and adding a financial tool for small businesses

- Create a label "Made in France"

- Support social economy by giving it access to public procurement.and promoting social innovation. Modulate taxing on companies that make effort on social responsability

- Create an independent economic zona in the Internet

- Revamp social dialog between employers and employees

- Support professional training which enables first job

- Create an agriculture competitive, preserved and durable by defending farmers who are producers, paying well them, and obtaining a environmental friendly agriculture, as well as redynamise food processing industries.

- Having a finance in favour of real economy by studying the separation between savings banks and investment banks and struggling against tax havens

- Funding the environmental friendly policies by creating an investment fund dedicated to sustainable development

3) Teach

- Define learning rules

- Maintain the number of teachers

- Dedicate 50% of the work in elementary schools to French lessons

- Reorganize school time for artistic activities

- Reestablish history and geography in terminal S

- For the parents, create an associative school to help those in difficulty in backing their child

    -  

Nicolas Sarkozy    

His program for the presidential election:

-       Give back the speech to French people and ask their opinion with referendum when it’s necessary.

-       All the main political aspects must be represented at the Parliament. 

-       Come back to the balance of our public accounts in 2016. Local authorities must decrease their expenditures.

-       Reduce employers’ contributions.

-       He would like an increase of 840 euros of the guaranteed minimum wage.

-       RSA beneficiaries must realize 7 hours of activity of general interest per week.

-       Unemployed have the obligation to accept a work corresponding to their qualification.

-       To generalize the alternation during the last year of professional diploma.

-       To exempt employers’ contributions from hiring of people of more than 55 years old.

-       Compensate each creation of a norm by the suppression of two others older.

-       Create a tax on big firms

-       Pay retirements the first of the month

-       To take care of each child in difficulty

-       To increase the number of teachers who are present at the end of school in order to help children

-       Create a bank for young people to help them to finance their studies. 

-       Halve immigration

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy was born the 28^th of January 1955. He is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic. He assumed the  office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier. Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)

Nicolas Sarkozy has proved a divisive figure in office and the economic crisis has eroded his support.

He has outraged rights activists with his immigration policies and upset traditionalists with his private life. On 15 February he launched his campaign for re-election, but faces a battle to beat socialist candidate François Hollande, who has currently a clear lead in opinion polls. He also faces a strong conservative challenger, Marine le Pen of the National Front.

Nicolas Sarkozy described himself as “the captain of a boat in the heart of a storm”.

He has the support of Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, with whom he found an agreement on EU budget policy in response to the eurozone debt crisis.

He developed unpopular policies. He pushed through pension reforms in 2010 despite mass protests and strikes. He raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 while unemployment remained high.

But the biggest obstacle he may face at the election is the state of the French economy. In fact, in January Standard & Poor’s downgraded its credit rating from AAA to AA.

The media seems to be more interested in his private life than the issues facing the country.

For the BBC, Nicolas Sarkozy may become the first president not to be re-elected for a second term since Valery Giscard d’Estaing.

It’s true that he is a man of enormous resource, self-confidence, a tremendous campaigner but even with these talents, the task to win the elections is monumental.

His pitch during the elections had been to tell the voters that, though they might dislike him, he struggled against the economic crisis. But after the downgrade, this argument seemed to be a little thin.

Nathalie Arthaud

Nathalie Arthaud (born February 23, 1970) is a French Workers' Struggle politician and candidate to the French presidential election, 2012.

People reproach her for not having any program for this election. She says that she has a struggle program and not an electoral program. Her program is based on three main ideas :

-       To put an end to the unemployment: we must impose to the managers the banning of the layoffs and the sharing out among everyone without reducing the wage.

-       Imposing the increase of all the wages, retirements.

-       She also would like to impose the workers’ control on industrial and banking firms and suppress business secrets.

Immigration:

All the workers whatever are their nationality and origins must have the right to vote.

Education:

It’s necessary to hire more teachers and train them correctly in order to improve the education. What’s more inner cities need more teachers to help children in difficulty.

Health :

Everybody should have the possibility to access the information, prevention and cares during all his life. Immediately we need to suppress medical franchises, hospital rates. All health expenditures must be reimbursed entirely.

Wages :

She would like to increase the guaranteed minimum wage to 1700 euros.

Unemployment:

She would like to forbid layoffs and impose the sharing out of work with the maintaining of wages.

Her life

She joined the Front National when she was 18 in 1986. In 1992 she became lawyer, and in 1998 she enter the legal staff of her party. Since 2011, she has been president of the Front National.

Her program

Stimulate the economy:

- Wages under 1500€ will be improved by 200€ thanks to a 3% tax on importation

- To low by 5% gaz, electricity, and train tariff

- To low by 20% the tax on fuel, so as to low it by 12% pump prices

- Restore the franc by referendum, but keep the euro (they will coexist)

- Sustain French companies by protectionism

- Decrease public debt thanks to a new law that will allow the French Bank to lend money to the Tax Interest without interest

Improve social situation:

- Retirement age would go back to 60 years old, payment for the surviving spouse  will be up to  30 000€ a year, and help for retire foreigners will be suppress unless they has paid for contribution and work in France for 10 years

- Create a biometric gree card so as to fight against social fraud.

Immigration:

- Reduce immigration to 10 000 entries per year

- Statement of support of undocumented people will be forbidden

- Undocumented migrants will no more benefit from medical help, or be sorted out.

- The principle of nationality by birthplace, of dual citizenship outside the European Union will be suppressed

- No more positive discrimination, and wearing religious symbol will be forbidden

Justice and ‘‘Security’’:

- Create 40 000 prison spaces

- Increase Justice Budget by 25% over 5 years

- Referendum for the reestablishments of death penalty and life sentence

- No more social help for repeat offender and criminal sentenced to prison for more than a year

Democracy:

- Reestablishment of the seven-year term non-renewable

Agriculture:

- No more CAP but a FAP

Ecology:

- Keep nuclear energy

- Produce between 10 and 15% of clean energy

The Woman:

She has a law degree, and a DEA en politic sciences.

In 1990, she was appointed examining magistrate and then she was conferred the Transparency International Integrity Award for his work in this area.

She was Assistant General Secretary of Industrial Restructuration in 1989

Between 2005 and 2009 she was adviser of the Norwegian Government and an active of the NORAD

She joined Europe Ecologie les Verts in 2008 and she has benn a european deputy since 2009.

Her program:

A fairer and more prosperous society:

-over three years: increase rents over and then restrict them + built 160 000 social housing each year

- incremental tariff on gas, electricity and water so as to stop waste and widespread basic access to it.

- a 50% increaser on the minimum welfare benefits

- Create a million jobs thanks to the transition over other sources of energy by 2020

- Create new laws so as to protect PME, salaried people, and reduce the power of share holders…

Moderate the power of finance…:

- A new European treaty, more ecologist, that would be submitted to a referendum

- Only banks that not deals with tax heaven could hold their banking licence.

- tax financial dealings intra EU     

- State garantee of deposits with banks would be reserved to bank that do not speculate on financial market.           

… and end with corruption:

- Strengthen the capacity of justice system and police in order to fight effectively against organized crime.

- Guarantee transparency over public representatives’ remuneration

- Make the elected representatives who were condemned for corruption ineligible

- Make justice independent from State, so as to give up presidential impunituy

A better education:

- 20 000 more teachers

-  Replace marks system by collective exams

A better health:

- Reduce by 50% the use of pesticides

- Reduce the legal threshold exposition at electro-magnetic and fight locally against air pollution

- Delete medical additional costs

A transition to other sources of energy:

- Organize the nuclear plant shutdown and produce 40% of our clean energy by 2020

- Save energy by renovate more than a million housings

Protect the environment:

- Adopt an emergency law about environment: 0 GOM, 0 shale gas, 0 (= no more) highway.

- New laws to protect nature, animals, etc…

A real democracy:

- Create a department dedicated to equality between men and women. Moreover companies that do not respect equity pay would be withdrawn public help

- Give same-sex couples full marriage and adoption rights

- Granted asylum right and regularizing undocumented migrants