WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- Nicolas Sarkozy is the new president of France -- or he will be on May 16, when he officially replaces Jacques Chirac as the head of the French Republic.
The right-wing candidate beat the Socialist contender Segolene Royal in Sunday's second and decisive round of voting, claiming 54 percent of the vote, leaving Royal with the remaining 47 percent, a heavy heart and millions of disenchanted voters.
The cleavage between France's political left and right is almost as striking as was the division between Republicans and Democrats in the last two elections in the United States.
At the end of the day -- and a long and painful presidential campaign -- it is really no great surprise that Sarkozy beat his rival, the first woman in French history to make it to the second round in a French presidential election.
From the very start of the campaign several weeks ago until polling booths closed Sunday night, Sarkozy remained constantly ahead of the Socialist candidate by a comfortable margin of 3 percent to 6 percent.
His supporters were so sure of their victory that they started celebrating around 6 p.m., well before the official 8 p.m. closing of all polling stations, at which time the French media officially declared Sarkozy the winner.
Sporadic celebrations by supporters of the right-wing candidate could be seen around various parts of the French capital Sunday night as supporters of the UMP, Sarkozy's party, chanted "On a gagne, on a gagne" -- "We have won, we have won."
In voting for the candidate of the UMP, the French people elected to maintain the same political line established by President Chirac rather than venture into unchartered political waters and electing a Socialist, and a woman, and perhaps more importantly, a candidate who had promised to bring about much more change to the social structure of French society. Still, in his victory speech shortly after the official announcement of the results, Sarkozy said, "The French people have chosen change."
Indeed, one of the anomalies of this election was the reversal of roles. Sarkozy, who in fact comes from the current Chirac government where he served as minister of the interior, promised change, while Royal -- who stood for change -- was deemed by the electorate as not putting forward enough change in her program.
Offering an olive branch to his rival and her supporters, Sarkozy said that "there is tonight before me only one victory, that of democracy."
On the international scene, Sarkozy's victory is certainly a positive sign for the Bush administration, with whom the new French president will undoubtedly have far better relations than the White House could have expected had Segolene Royal been victorious. The socialist candidate did not hesitate throughout the campaign to remind the voters of Sarkozy's soft spot for the United States. Royal even accused Sarkozy during the final televised debate of being "like President Bush."
This should come as a welcome change for Washington following a roller-coaster relationship between Paris and Washington. Chirac came out in strong support of Washington in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but relations soured as a result of Chirac's opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Then came an all-time low when U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called France "old Europe." That was followed by a boycott of French products in the United States, with some people going as far as pouring French wines and champagne into the gutters. But with Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace, Washington can expect a warming of relations, if not outright support from Paris on a number of international issues.
"I appeal to our American friends to let them know that they can count on our friendship," said Sarkozy. "I want to tell them that France will always be by their side when they will need France's help. But I want to tell them at the same time that friendship is accepting the fact that friends sometimes think differently."
The French president-elect reminded Washington that "a great nation like the United States has the duty not to oppose those who campaign against climate change. Instead they should take the lead. The future of all mankind is at stake, and France will make of this combat its first combat," said Sarkozy.
The new French president may well stand by Washington's side in its many battles around the world as he promised, but one point of contention on which Sarkozy is bound to disagree with the U.S. president is Turkey's admittance to the European Union. Washington and more particularly President Bush remain strong supporters of Ankara joining the EU, a project that the new French president is likely to oppose.
Addressing his fellow Europeans, Sarkozy said, "I want to appeal to our European partners with whom our destiny is closely intertwined that I believe deeply, I believe sincerely, in the construction of Europe. And tonight France is back in Europe. But I beg our European partners to listen to the people's voices. Those who want to be protected."
The other major international dossier Sarkozy could change after years, make that decades, of French policy first established by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, is the support Paris has traditionally shown towards the Arab world. Sarkozy, according to some analysts, may favor supporting Israel, much to the detriment of the Arab world.
Sunday night he called on the people of the Mediterranean to put aside their differences and build "a future based on peace and justice." He asked them to "overcome all hatred and to make room for a big dream of peace."
Looking ahead, Sarkozy said the time has come to build together a Mediterranean union based on the model of the European Union that was started 60 years ago. "What was built for the European Union 60 years ago, I want to build for the Mediterranean region today.
"Together," said Sarkozy, "we can write a new page of history."
After 12 years of Jacques Chirac running the country, not without controversy, the page of history will be turned in 10 days when Nicolas Sarkozy moves into the Elysee Palace to assume the reins of power.
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