In mid-February, the Paris Court of Appeal decided to sentence Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of the French Republic, to six months in prison (he also received an additional suspended sentence of six months). According to the verdict, the politician committed illegal campaign financing back in 2012, using a PR company to conceal the true extent of his presidential campaign expenses. Sarkozy’s lawyer claimed his client to be innocent and will therefore appeal to the Supreme Court. The proceedings could take years, during which Sarkozy can retain his liberty. The politician hastily left the courtroom after the verdict had been announced, refusing to speak to the press.
However, this was not the first sentence made against him. Earlier, Sarkozy was sentenced to three years (only one of which is to be served) for illegally obtaining information from a judge in exchange for various favours. However, instead of going to jail, the politician can serve the sentence in home detention with an ankle monitor. Investigations are underway against Sarkozy in several other cases, as the politician allegedly accepted illegal funds from Russia as well as the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi.
From mediocre student to political prodigy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa was born in 1955 in Paris. His father was Hungarian nobleman Pál Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa (taking his name from the village of Bócsa in Bács-Kiskun County, where the family had owned estates). Pál Sárközy emigrated to France during World War II. In his youth, Nicolas Sarkozy was a mediocre student, even failing some subjects in high school. Consequentially, he was sent off to a private school in Monaco, from which he would eventually graduate. He went on to study law at the University of Paris-Nanterre. The events of 1968, which he witnessed as a student, had a profound impact on the young Sarkozy’s views: he rejected the leftist ideas of the 68-ers and joined a right-wing student organization. He later enrolled at elite institution Sciences Po, where he would ultimately leave his studies unfinished.
After his student years, Sarkozy began his career as a lawyer, working for Silvio Berlusconi, among others. Later on they would both bring about a similar brand of right-wing politics in their respective homelands. He became a municipal representative at a relatively young age, proceeding to be elected mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1983, becoming one of the youngest city leaders in the country.
Between 1993 and 1995, he served as Minister of the Budget in Jacques Chirac’s government, where Chirac took the young Sarkozy, his eventual successor, under his wing. He joined the UMP (Union for a Popular Movement), the main political force of the traditional Gaullist French right-wing. From 2005, he served as Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin’s government. In this capacity, he worked to subjugate the religious life of the growing Muslim community to an official Muslim umbrella organisation that the state could control and negotiate with, similar to Christian denominations. This sparked great controversy in French politics, which was generally tolerant towards multiculturalism. Although Sarkozy used the classical French secular argumentation of laïcité, he
His tough stance made Sarkozy popular within the right, especially as he used a heavy hand to quell the 2005 riots that broke out in the banlieues, the predominantly immigrant-populated slums. Sarkozy also extended penalties for juvenile offenders and tightened immigration regulations as well.
Sarkozy, who ascended to the leadership of the UMP in 2004, not only aimed to solve the problem of the suburban riots but also turned them into an advantage by using them as a tool to promote his anti-immigration views. Among other things, he proposed a quota system to restrict immigration. The tough, novel approach proved to be fruitful: in 2007, he won the presidential election against socialist Ségolène Royal.
One of Sarkozy’s first presidential achievements was the successful negotiation of the release of French hostages from captivity by Colombian guerrillas. Striking a deal with Gaddafi, he also secured the release of Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in a Libyan show trial. In exchange for aid and trade opportunities, Libya not only released the healthcare workers but also commenced stricter surveillance of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, effectively becoming Europe’s border guard. Sarkozy therefore managed to make a virtue out of necessity; turning the forced negotiations with Libya’s hostage-taking dictator to the benefit to France and Europe. He also ensured that the aid streams to Libya would be made permanent, in exchange for restraining the waves of migration. His former business partner and ideological comrade Silvio Berlusconi also assisted him in the negotiations.
As for his economic policy, Sarkozy followed a liberal recipe. True to his promise, he reduced taxes, especially for higher earners, and partly abolished inheritance tax. However, due to the effects of the 2008 global economic crisis, he was forced to eventually turn towards interventionism. Regarding foreign policy, Sarkozy pursued an Atlanticist, pro-US, pro-EU, and pro-Israel direction – always acting pragmatically. At the outbreak of the Arab Spring, he initially tried to restrain the tides, especially in Tunisia and Libya. As the uprisings escalated beyond a certain point, he ultimately supported the Western intervention against Gaddafi.
Despite his achievements, the socialist François Hollande defeated Sarkozy in the 2012 presidential elections. Following his defeat, Sarkozy would temporarily retire from politics. His retirement turned final in 2017, after an unsuccessful bid in the primaries of the renamed conservative party, The Republicans.
The anti-ideological upheaval of French politics
Nicolas Sarkozy once declared himself to be
As a member of the UMP and later The Republicans, he accepted Gaullism, the traditional and dominant French right-wing ideology. However, he also developed his own ideological framework, referred to as “Sarkozyism.” It’s important to note that until the emergence of Emmanuel Macron, the leading parties of the French right and left functioned as catch-all parties covering a significant portion of the political spectrum. During Sarkozy’s time, the right-wing big tent party represented various factions, ranging from the sovereigntist far-right to traditional Gaullists as well as liberals.
Fundamentally, Sarkozy was aligned with the party’s more right-wing factions, but he did not belong to the extreme right. Unlike the sovereigntists, he was a consistent supporter of deeper European integration. During his presidency, he sought to have France adopt the EU’s Constitution – unsuccessfully. However, he was opposed on many issues to the more moderate Chirac, his former mentor. Essentially, he transitioned from being Chirac’s protégé to his counterweight within the right-wing, emphasising the necessity for radical change.
Economic neoliberalism was one of the cornerstones of his views. France operates a relatively generous welfare state, with one of the most extended rights to strike, giving the unions significant influence. Hence, with the help of the (radical) left, workers’ unions sometimes defend their privileges with violent demonstrations. But there is also a tradition for a state-controlled economy within the French right, including protective tariffs and social welfare. It was this taboo that Sarkozy broke when he decided to prioritise tax reduction and the reform of French welfare politics, primarily social benefits.
Such radicalism and taboo-breaking was often accompanied by the emergence of a mild personality cult. Some analysts have likened Sarkozyism to Bonapartism, while others would even point to its parallels with Jacobinism. The ideology is partially based on an emphasis on the nation-state, while also pursuing a pro-America, pro-Israel, Euro-Atlantic foreign policy. It can also be stated that Sarkozyism is not a developed ideology but rather an anti-ideology, the essence of which is shaking up out-dated structures and cultural taboos. This is another reason why Sarkozy is often compared to Berlusconi, who carried out similarly radical reforms within the Italian right.
The closest person to being Sarkozy’s ideological successor is Emmanuel Macron, who himself has set out to improve French competitiveness. The liberalization of labour laws and other reforms triggered the anger of the yellow vests, leading to massive strikes and protests by unions as well. His efforts to restrict immigration initially merely aimed to take the wind from Marine Le Pen’s sails. However, by now, a strong stance against excessive multiculturalism has become an integral part of Macronism. The notion that Macron is, in a sense, Sarkozy’s political heir is evidenced by Sarkozy’s support for the president’s re-election in 2022, while the former president is also occasionally acting as an advisor to Macron and his ministers. Recently, he was a guest at a state dinner at the French presidential palace.
As traditional politics did not undergo transformation during Sarkozy’s tenure, extremist ideologies did not strengthen, either. However, in 2012, the president failed to secure his re-election, while France’s debts increased despite economic liberalism – although the economic crisis is largely to blame for this. In contrast, Macron initiated numerous reforms, such as raising the retirement age. However, his radical program set the nation on fire, politically speaking, pushing many French citizens into the arms of Le Pen’s far right or the radical left led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Nevertheless, Macron was re-elected for a second term, also breaking the dominance of traditional catch-all parties. Currently, Macron’s party, Renaissance, created from scratch in 2016, remains the strongest formation in the French National Assembly, despite recently having lost its majority.
Although Sarkozy retired from professional politics in 2017, his influence on the French right remains strong, particularly with European leaders like Viktor Orbán. The Hungarian prime minister and the former French president watched the Champions League final together in Paris in 2022, while last year, they held discussions on the war in Ukraine and European political issues. Sarkozy’s influence on Macron is undeniable, and even in the shadow of his looming prison sentence, he remains a significant figure on the political chessboard.
