Sarkozy reminds the French voters what he’s made of

Sarkozy is never better than when he has his back to the wall. This was a make
or break moment, and he played it perfectly. He delivered the funeral
oration for the young paratroopers, speaking soberly and refusing all
interviews. His hard-line interior minister, Claude Guéant, who includes
religious communities in his remit, called for Jewish and Muslim leaders to
speak together against racism. When the police special unit, RAID,
identified Merah within two days, laid siege to his flat and eventually
killed him, the national reaction was a collective sigh of relief.

The entire episode has, in fact, reminded the country of two key moments in
Sarkozy’s career: first when he was an interior minister in the early 2000s,
determinedly focused on law and order, and second, the episode when, as
Mayor of Neuilly aged 28, he surged to national prominence after he
negotiated for hours with a madman calling himself the “Human Bomb”. The
lunatic had taken hostages at a primary school, and Sarkozy went into the
building alone to offer himself in exchange for the children. He came out,
eventually, with the children in his arms and the “Human Bomb” was shot by
police. There are powerful echoes here.

Yesterday, back on the campaign trail, Sarkozy addressed a packed hall in
Strasbourg, vowing to fight racism and terrorism, and keep France’s
communities together. François Hollande, meanwhile, was mostly silent,
though one of his spokesmen, Jean-Jacques Urvoas, scored an own goal by
criticising the “inefficiency” of the police.

With a month still to go in the campaign, Nicolas Sarkozy, who has struck such
a sincere note, may look back at this week as the moment his luck turned.

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