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March Hotspots
By Maggie Saylor '07
STAFF WRITER

Our hotspot moves to Europe this month, away from the war-torn Middle East to the very exciting presidential elections underway in France. One of the two main candidates is a woman, unusual to say the least. The final election will take place on May 6, 2007.

Segolene Royal, a middle-aged mother of four, is sponsored by the Socialist party, and is one of two primary candidates expected to win the primary voting rounds in late April. Her opponent is Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement Party. Surprising both of them has been the sudden rise of Francois Bayrou, a centrist from the Union for French Democracy, who has quickly gained poll points in recent weeks.

Nicolas Sarkozy has, under current president Jacque Chirac, been Minister of the Interior. Though he began trailing behind Ms. Royal earlier in the campaign, he has moved ten points ahead of her and is banking on the party majority that elected his predecessor to help lead him to a victory. Many believe he has new and different ideas from many traditional presidential candidates.

Ms. Royal has been running on a platform of socialist values, portraying herself as a mother figure and caregiver of the country. She has also sought to include the immigrant population that faced so much negative attention during the riots of last fall. In a recent interview she promised to strive for an inclusive domestic policy that will fight the discrimination that divides the French population.

The issue of Royal’s femininity has added an interesting aspect to the campaign, promising to reveal results just as interesting as those of the 2005 election in which fascist Jean-Marie Le Pen arrived in the top two with surprising strength. Royal believes that she has had to face much more criticism than would a man, and is second-guessed even by some supporters. Some voters face the decision of voting for or against her merely because of her sex, and not her politics.

Voter participation has thus far been soaring and is expected to reach new highs during the presidential election rounds. Higher voter participation is due both in part to Ms. Royal’s presidential bid, and to determination by the immigrant population to make their voice heard at a national level.

A female candidate’s presence in the French elections is especially interesting when placed against the backdrop of other successful women candidates. In 2005, France’s German neighbors elected Angela Merkel as the first female Chancellor of the country. Closer to home, Hillary Clinton as been facing it off with Barack Obama for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, becoming a very viable candidate.

As students at a prestigious women’s college, the current trend of powerful women in elected positions is exciting and intriguing. The situation calls into question the portrayal of women as national leaders, both in politics and in business, which will determine the world that we find ourselves in all too soon.