By Justine Lourdes Labucay
photo credit: www.liberation.fr Meet France's number one man: Nicolas Sarkozy. Since assuming presidency in May 2007, he has captured the world's full attention with his bold political positions on immigration and foreign policy, and his very public love life. Once described as "a human dynamo who left his opponents trailing and exhausted in his wake," Mr. Sarkozy is a Frenchman on top of his game.
Sarkozy was born in Paris in 1955 to a French mother and a Hungarian immigrant father and was raised in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he would later become town councilor and mayor.
Nicolas Sarkozy is a president of France set apart from his predecessors by the people themselves. In a recent article in The New York Times, Parisian psychiatrist Serge Hefez asserted that the French are inflicted with what he calls "Obsessive Sarkosis," an "unhealthy fascination with Nicolas Sarkozy." It seems that the French have developed a feeling of attachment to their president, and even identify with him through his exhibitions of typical human attributes, one of which is his having been divorced twice. While this comes across as an "upside," it also appears to be working the other way around.
This "self-identification" many maintain with Sarkozy could be the same reason others are repulsed by him. And with such polarization in the political backdrop, Sarkozy has been labeled a divisive figure for France. His approach is plainspoken and direct when carrying out policies -- often a cause for controversy and riot among demonstrators -- but he still gets your attention and gets things done.
He was recently included in Time Magazine's runners-up for Person of the Year 2008, where Tony Blair characterized him as having "the hallmark of any true leader: a capacity to take decisions and implement them." Sarkozy implemented strict measures to control illegal immigration in France and backed programs aiming to integrate skilled migrants into French society. He has also endorsed "positive discrimination" with the end goal of reducing unemployment among the youth.
Nicolas Sarkozy is a man you won't soon forget.
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