The Hindu Business Line : Sarkozy rising star of French politics

THE decision by Mr Nicholas Sarkozy, to quit as France's Finance Minister and run for the French Presidency in 2007, comes as no surprise to anybody. The 49-year-old Mr Sarkozy has been the rising star of the French politics, for some time.

He comes from a modest background — son of a Hungarian emigrant and Jewish mother — he has described himself as "a kind of iconoclast the new Europe needs to break away from its cushy and traditional welfare state and embark on policies which are imaginative and daring, backing free enterprise."

According to the latest French opinion polls, Mr Sarkozy is widely rated as a popular politician with a wide ranging appeal at all levels of the French society. Mr Sarkozy became the Finance Minister in April this year and has never looked back since then. He is widely admired for his "positive and pragmatic" policies, by the French industrialists, workers and trade union leaders. Mr Sarkozy strategy is to boost workers productivity to ensure that France remains a competitive industrial power in the global market place.

Mr Sarkozy informed the President, Mr Jacques Chirac, of his intention to run for the French leadership of the Center-right UMP party. Obviously, all this will prompt Mr Chirac to initiate a massive cabinet reshuffle but Mr Sarkozy will still be able to present the 2005 French budget on September 22.

He will be "the star attraction" at the UMP party conference this weekend as analysts are busy speculating about the future of Mr Chirac and prospects of the71-year-old leader running for the third term of office in 2007. Mr Chirac will then be 73 years old and will remain in power till 2014 when he will be 80.

An official at Elisee Palace — the official residence of the French President — stated that Mr Sarkozy would remain the Finance Minister until UMP elections are concluded on November 28.