Sarkozy starts march to claim France’s top job

FRANCE’s political sphere changed dramatically when Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious finance minister, was formally named the new leader of the ruling conservative party - widely seen as the start of his march to replace Jacques Chirac as French president in 2007.

In a televised acceptance speech before 40,000 members of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) outside Paris, Mr Sarkozy vowed to use his new job to shake up France with reform and hinted the Chirac era was drawing to a close.

“A new horizon is in front of us, it is now that we must make our dreams a reality,” he said over cheers and the waving of the French and party flags.

The party leadership, which will require Mr Sarkozy to give up his government portfolio, is considered a springboard for the presidential elections in two and a half years’ time that Mr Chirac may or may not contest.

French media called the moment a “coronation” in reference to its lavish spectacle and to the aspirations of 49-year-old Mr Sarkozy, who is easily the country’s most popular politician.

Mr Sarkozy won 85% of the ballots cast by half of the UMP’s 120,000 members, according to results flashed up on huge screens in the vast tradeshow hall in a setting reminiscent of glitzy US party conventions.

Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin were among the ministers in the crowd. Mr Chirac, though, was not present and sent his wife, Bernadette, instead. Mr Sarkozy carefully prefaced his speech by paying homage to several influential party figures. He thanked Bernadette Chirac for attending and said; “I need you, Mrs Chirac.”

But he also hinted at the mutual animosity with Mr Chirac by talking about the immobilism France has often been accused of under successive leaders, and pointedly showed he intended to use his new post to make policy statements that infringed on the president’s areas of responsibility.