ACKNOWLEDGING mistakes of both substance and image, President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday still vowed to accelerate his controversial program of systemic reform, arguing that France would sink in power and influence unless it changes its ways. “We must start the necessary changes so France can remain a major power in the world,” Sarkozy said. The only strategy, he said, is “to put in place the changes that others have made and we have not.” After a difficult and much-criticized year in power, Sarkozy answered questions on live television for an hour and 45 minutes, saying that he had been elected “to rehabilitate work” in a country where “salaries are too low and taxes are too high,” and 55 percent of the state budget goes to civil servants and pensions. He was at turns aggressive, contrite and defensive, admitting serious mistakes, but saying that an overly strong euro, rising oil prices, the subprime crisis and sudden events, like the Chinese crackdown in Tibet, had made his job much harder. With his poll numbers low, Sarkozy, 53, worked to refocus attention on the country and its problems and away from his personal life, which has featured a quick divorce, a quicker marriage and widespread criticism of his flashy habits, quick temper and frenetic style. His interviewers did not press him, allowing him to shut off discussion on his personal life by saying that “Everything in my personal life is in order” and that “tonight I want to talk about France.” He talked repeatedly about the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and said it was absurd to expect him to fix the problems of 30 years in a few months. He understands criticism, he said, but added, “If I stopped because high school students are unhappy, unions aren't happy - in France someone is always unhappy. “There is always a good reason not to do things, and the more we defer them, it costs a lot more, and it's much harder.” He made no major announcements, but defended his capacity and that of Prime Minister Francois Fillon to deal with the challenge. He repeated his strong defense of adding 700 troops to Afghanistan, characterizing French involvement there as being “on the side of the Afghanis” faced with an insurgency from a Taleban that persecutes women. Asked if he feared retaliation, he demanded, “Do you think what happened to New York, Madrid and London could not happen to us?” He said he would not as president talk to Hamas or to Iran, both of which he said want “to scrape Israel from the map.” And he said that as France takes the six-month leadership of the European Union in July, he wants to find a unified European stand on the Olympic Games in Beijing. He said that he was “shocked” by the Chinese crackdown in Tibet, and that France would continue to press China to reopen dialogue with the Dalai Lama. French businesses have recently been the target of protests in China, where people were upset by the sometimes violent scenes that recently met the Olympic torch in the streets of Paris. Although Sarkozy emphasized that he has four more years to get France right, some wonder if he can regain popularity. “He won one of the best presidential victories of the modern republic,” said Pierre Moscovici, a Socialist seeking his party's leadership. “He had gold in his hands and turned it into lead.” Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate Sarkozy defeated, summed up the problem neatly: “It's a year ratee,” she said, which can be politely translated as “messed up.” She added, “It's dangerous when a country loses confidence in itself.” Sarkozy's poll ratings are dire. An IFOP poll showed that 72 percent of the French were dissatisfied. Some 65 percent believe Sarkozy has failed to make good on electoral promises. A CSA poll showed that 53 percent of French thought Sarkozy represented France badly, and that they displayed a nostalgia for the imperious Charles de Gaulle; 88 percent thought de Gaulle represented France well. Le Monde's editorial on Thursday was titled “Too much Nicolas, not enough Sarkozy,” suggesting that his personal life and his marriage to the Italian heiress and former model Carla Bruni had been too preoccupying, and that there had been too little of the reforms he had promised on jobs, security, economic deregulation and deficit reduction. His aides, like the Labor minister, Laurent Wauquiez, say that major reforms are being drafted. But even Sarkozy's own prime minister, Fillon, said earlier on Thursday, “I'm waiting for a road map in the coming weeks and months that re-establishes the course of the reforms that need to be led.” Sarkozy has four more years in a job with nearly monarchical powers. He is already making some changes, trying to be more like the secular “kings” de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, appearing less often in public, ordering his Cabinet to stop leaking and gossiping and trying to wrap himself in more mystery. “He'll rebound,” one minister said. “For a month now, he's more at ease.” - The New York Times __
