Sarkozy als Franse Wilders?

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Als je onbevangen naar het onderstaande kijkt, komt de gedachte op dat
Sarkozy zich gedraagt als de Franse Wilders (dat maakt Wilders de
Hollandse Sarkozy - en dus klaar voor het Nederlandse Presidentschap of
doet Wilders het met de Franse slag? ;).

Groet / Cees

from the November 02, 2009 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1103/p06s04-woeu.html
France's Sarkozy launches controversial national identity debate
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government started a 'what is French?'
website today. Critics say the national identity debate is intended to
stir up anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of national elections in the
spring.
By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Paris
What does it mean to be French?

As part of a long-simmering question over France's direction, the
government of Nicolas Sarkozy today started a website asking citizens to
give input on French values, patriotism, and their thoughts on the rise
of minorities here.

It's Step 1 of an ambitious national "grand debate" on "identity" that
aims to span tiny French hamlets and city districts over the next four
months, ending just ahead of a national by-election next spring.

The project, run out of the Ministry of Immigration and National
Identity, opens a politically fraught but substantial debate that Mr.
Sarkozy first broached in 2007: How to define French tradition at a time
when France faces burgeoning African, Arab, and Asian immigrants, and
other changes in a globalizing world.

France has not conducted such an "identity" discussion in a top down
manner before, especially on such a hot-button topic. (Although in 1999,
36,000 French mayors trod similar ground before voting for a new model
for Marianne, the symbol of the French republic)

The "What is French?" website offers civic wisdom by some of the French
greats – Montesquieu, Hugo, Malraux. But it also puts forward questions
seen as leading, such as, "Why is the question of national identity
provoking uneasiness among some intellectuals, sociologists, or
historians?"

While many say the discussion is long overdue in a country that still
does not officially recognize ethnic differences (under the banner of
"Liberty, Equality and Fraternity"), critics accuse Mr. Sarkozy of
attempting to whip up anti-immigrant sentiment in a bid for to secure
the right-wing vote ahead of next spring's election.

"It is an important debate," says Karim Emile Bitar, an associate fellow
at the International Institute of Strategic Relations in Paris. "France
needs to find a way to preserve its universalist model, which is
remarkable on philosophical grounds, with new realties that make the
model seem hypocritical because of the giant gap between ...
proclamations of equality ... [and] the reality on the ground ...
discrimination and unequal opportunities."

Shrewd politics?

Abruptly playing the French identity card is seen as both shrewd and
crass, analysts say. Shrewd, because it diverts current anger over a
number of Sarkozy poll-depleting controversies, including "le affair
Jean Sarkozy" in which the president's 23-year old son was being groomed
to take the reins of the wealthiest district in Paris (he's since
withdrawn). But also because the identity question – widely understood
here to be unaddressed – is now being tackled by the left, as well as
Sarkozy's own center-right political allies.

The left wishes to engage the problem of how to make French universal
ideals of liberty and equality relevant or clearer. Their question is
how an officially color-blind society has so systematically excluded its
immigrants and peoples of color. By addressing this question so
directly, Sarkozy shows that his party cares, too.

Or just crass?

Those who find Sarkozy's new initiative crass say that identity
questions pander to the French right wing, a vote that Sarkozy and his
party will need to win elections next spring.

Critics worry about an official debate on identity taking place in
government buildings, organized by a ruling political party, with
official conclusions arriving just ahead of an important national
by-election. It may be a way to manufacture consensus in France for
tougher strictures on minorities, they say.

"For several years, immigrants and the children of immigrants have been
targeted as threats to the French national identity," says Pap Ndiaye of
the School for Advanced Studies in Social Science. "This may be a way to
suggest they are not French or are not as French as they should be.
There are so many ways to be French, and I think it will be sad if the
government tells you how to be French. I worry about authoritarianism
hidden behind debates on identity."

(Coincidentally, Mr. Ndiaye's sister, a novelist of African heritage
raised in Paris, on Monday won the distinguished French Goncourt Prize
for her novel, "Three Powerful Women," about what she described to
French radio as "common capacities of resistance and survival.")

In two weeks, the new French identity website will shift to asking
thematic questions. In December, the government begins a program of
official debate and discussion to include "everyone living in the
nation," and is expected to bring politicians, nongovernmental
organizations, teachers, pupils, parents, minority associations,
trade-union leaders, religious groups, and patriotic associations.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********