Sarkozy to take over as French president

Nicolas Sarkozy officially takes office today as France’s new president, replacing Jacques Chirac in an elaborate ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The conservative Mr Sarkozy, 52, will be “more implicated in daily affairs” than his predecessors, said aide Henri Guaino, adding that the new president will be laying out the “philosophy of his presidency” in his inauguration speech.

“He will communicate more, act more directly,” Mr Guaino said on Canal Plus television.

Mr Sarkozy, who won election May 6 on pledges of market reforms and a break with the past, will become the sixth president of the Fifth Republic, founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. Mr Chirac, 74, is stepping down after 12 years as president and four decades in politics.

In his final presidential appeal last night, he urged his compatriots to stay united and proud, despite uncertainty about France’s place in today’s global economy and world affairs.

“I know that the new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will endeavour to lead our nation forward on the paths of the future,” Mr Chirac said of Mr Sarkozy, a protege-turned-rival who has served in governments under Mr Chirac but sought to distance himself from the economic stagnation and social tensions that marred Mr Chirac’s tenure.