Pay more to say less

There were several firsts when France’s Nicolas Sarkozy made the annual New Year’s presidential address to the nation on Monday evening.

To start with of course, it was his first since taking office as the country’s head honcho. And never one to miss a show-stopping opportunity, Sarkozy also went “live” rather than opting for the traditional pre-recorded “Blessing” as his predecessors had done.

Ever the Action Man, he delivered his eight-minutes worth at breakneck speed which might have left many viewers bewildered and the poor dear signing for the deaf and hard of hearing (another first) rather limp wrested.

So what did the Omnipresent One manage to pack into his speech? Well very little if the general reaction of the press and public is anything to go by.

There was basically a minute of backslapping self-praise for each of his months in power with some stage-managed humility in admitting that he had perhaps made a few mistakes along the way, but not outlining what they might have been.

They may have included shying away from the cameras on board a luxury boat just after the elections with his oh-so-faithful wife; Or allowing a rich French industrialist to pick up the tab for his two-week summer holiday in United States; Or his five-star Christmas break with the latest love of his life, Carla Bruni, as they strolled hand in hand from a borrowed private jet; Or the 172 per cent pay rise he allowed himself to be awarded in the autumn.

All of course ensured circulation figures for the weekly glossies, but hardly appropriate even for a Bling Bling president who demands all round belt tightening and steadfastly refuses to increase the minimum wage for those at the other end of the income scale.

Or maybe he was referring to his astonishing reinterpretation of the morality of foreign policy and the fundamental need to ignore respect for human rights as he signed billion Euro deals with Beijing and Tripoli.

Hard to know really what Sarkozy meant by mistakes, as he is unlikely to put himself in a position to be asked directly.

Be that as it may his Sarkozy’s speech also gave him the chance to prove himself as much a master of the political phrase as previous French presidents by maintaining (just as Jacques Chirac had done) “not everything could be resolved in one day”.

But he stressed his sincerity and honesty in serving the nation – just the words to console anyone when heard dropping from a politician’s mouth.

Last year had been, he declared, one of “Urgency” when reforms that had been hanging around for several decades were forced through. Phase two, beginning January 1, would herald the beginning of a period when the impact of those changes SHOULD make themselves felt. Rather too heavy on the conditional tense for many.

He was silent over his failure so far to deliver on the campaigning promise of increasing purchasing power. Instead there was the guarantee that 2008 would witness the continuing break with the past and even more far- reaching political changes (poaching more opposition politicians) that would touch the very core of French society and culture, values and identity.

Apparently this was all the sort of stuff that went down well with focus groups during pre-presidential election campaigning. Obviously Sarkozy’s well-oiled political machine has its eyes on March’s local elections.

And the cost for all this bonhomie as the country swings into the New Year? A paltry €72,000 – for just eight minutes. A bargain really and only seven times more than the cost for Chirac’s speech at the same time last year.

As the television rights were bought by France 2, the country’s public broadcaster, it meant in effect the taxpayers were coughing up to be told what they already knew.

Perhaps it really was Sarkozy at his best as he transposed his oft-chanted mantra “Work more to earn more” into “Pay more to say less”.

Happy New Year.

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