The good news
It was quite a few weeks ago that I decided it was time to push my passive support of Ségolene Royal past "in theory" & towards concrete and evidence-supported. It was a speech she delivered in Toulon which I chose to deconstruct, or attempt to. It all started off a bit weak I felt, a bit airy-fairy and banal. Enunciating principles - core principles, not even relating to socialism but to democracy at its most basic - giving people "back" a voice and this sort of general nonsense. So far so general consensus. Then it veers disturbingly towards something Sarkozy could have written. Proclaiming herself "la condidate de la morale de l'action" - moral?? could we sound a bit more centre-right please?
Thankfully she quickly steps it up, denouncing such things as the outrage of poverty in a rich country (encore que...) inequality, precarity, social insecurity, violence, fear - all for which the Right are exclusively responsible. (That's better, now we sound like Socialists!) And then recalling everyone's favourite buzzwords of the Republic: Egalité, Liberté, Fraternité - but it's not gratuitous, as she emphasises the need to give these words back meaning they seem to have lost. "Rendre le sens aux valeurs". This sounds more like practical socialism, which - even under a right-wing gouvernment, is easily observable in France, collective action is so routine nobody bats an eyelid, somehow no matter how many people are on strike everything still manages to function almost as normal.
And then she's championing young people. And not just for the sake of it, it isn't just a gimick (although maybe quoting Diam's was), it actually sounds like common sense, it actually sounds like a plan.
"Et je vous le dis ici car cela sera au cœur de mon projet présidentiel : pas un jeune ne restera au chômage pendant plus de 6 mois. Les jeunes auront un droit d'accès au premier emploi ou au premier stage rémunéré. Il seront remis en formation professionnelle si leur chômage est dû à une formation inadaptée au marché du travail. Il n'y aura plus de jeunes étudiants dans des situations de paupérisation parce que nous ferons l'allocation d'économie pour les jeunes. Je veux que les jeunes retrouvent la dignité dans notre pays et qu'ils y trouvent toute leur place parce que c'est pour eux que nous construisons la société de demain." Ségolene Royal
Vas-y Ségo!
The bad news
Ségo is clearly not infallible, as the series of high-profile gaffes on the international scene testify.
And I DO wish she'd take a strong positive stance on the EU, instead of hiding behind the results of potential future referanda, the outcomes of which are faits accomplis unless somebody mobilises some support - you can't just leave people alone to make up their own minds, that's not how political opinions are formed. Or at least, certainly not when it comes to the EU. Heads of state ignoring the EU isn't allowing the population to come to their own conclusions, au contraire - it's sending them a very distinct message.
"Il faudra beaucoup de travail pour que les francais repondent positivement" - obviously work she has no intention of putting in herself. Instead, she is adopting a very laissez-faire approach, preoccupied with being a good socialist on home ground, the rest is up to the good people of France to yay or nay any EU proposals. Europe can do its own work to win them over. Oh wait, no it can't, it doesn't have the means nor the access.
She should take a leaf out of Zapatero's book, toiling away admirably to convince his citizens of the Union's virtues. Then again, a certain MEP recently hinted that there might just be a military coup in the works. Typical.
But even beyond the euro-niverse, Ségo has alledgedly displayed "une incompétence, une légereté et un manque de gravité" vis-a-vis her diplomatic duties - a carelessness, a seeming indifference.
One almost feels she could learn a thing or two from Condoleeza Rice's dealings when it comes to putting on the "serious face" for diplomacy abroad, something Rice is particularly good at. Nobody seems to have less of a sense of humour when it comes to foreign policy. Ségo, on the other hand, seems so concerned not to put a foot wong in France & seems to compensate for it by getting a bit too relaxed overseas.
"Ce qui plombe Segolene, c'est son absence de maitrise a l'international."
Libération
Ok, so maybe they've been a bit harsh. And tricking her into saying opinionated things about the US & various other places hardly seems fair. Nor does criticising her for displaying apparent "Blairism" following a grudging admissal of progress during his term. Of course, her case isn't helped by the attempts of her n.1 rival to turn the situation to his advantage by making it all into the biggest possible deal he can. But it all just becomes entirely comedic when Sarkozy puts on his serious face to gravely announce that, "I don't find Corsica funny".
Sego's speech at Toulon (17/01/07)
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