The regional elections in France have demonstrated the weakness of the popularity of President Nicolas Sarkozy; if his popularity remains at this level in 2012, when presidential elections are scheduled, he will be unable to win a new term. Officially, Sarkozy has yet to declare his candidacy, but no one close to him doubts the certainty that he will run again. Despite his moves in the international arena, to push for an international alliance to stop Moammar Gaddafi's massacre of his people and help the Libyan rebels and the country's civilians, which has received the support of all opposition parties – the Socialists and others – Sarkozy has been unable to improve his image with the French people. As a consequence, the sad thing is that the topic of France's Muslims and Islam has moved to the heart of the electoral race between opportunists in Sarkozy's ruling party (the Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP), such as its secretary general, Jean-Francois Copé, and the pillars of the extreme right (the National Front), which is led by Marine Le Pen, the daughter and political heir of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who based his party on feeding the fears of foreigners, Arabs, Muslims and Jews on the part of right-wing popular segments in France. Now, Sarkozy's party is trying to win the votes of this rising extreme right in France and is focusing on the fears of everything that is reminiscent of extremist Islam. Copé was the first one to fight for banning the niqab, and April 5 has been set as date to debate “secularism” in France. If you read the newspapers and listen to Copé's statements, and the debate over Islam and public aspect of the Islamic religion, you would think that five million Muslims in France, out of a population of around 68 million people, were threatening the lives of the rest of the country's citizens. In fact, France's fundamental problem is unemployment, which stands at 10 percent, and the rising standard-of-living costs and deteriorating economic conditions throughout Europe, and even the entire world. The issue of the niqab, even if it is marginal compared to fundamental economic issues, springs from a segment of society that represents no more than a few hundred inhabitants of neighborhoods and cities in France. Unemployment and deteriorating social conditions are the basis of the problem, because they threaten civil peace in the urban suburbs. Focusing on the outward aspects of Islam, debating them, and stirring up these issues enhance the position of racists in France and are helping to change the image of Republican France, based on the values of equality, tolerance and democracy. The strategy of entering a debate on secularism and bringing the topics of Islam into it, along with the call to ban users of public transport who have religious aspects to their appearance, is a barren one; the problem is not the aspects of religion, but rather difficult living conditions. The opportunists in Sarkozy's party believe that there is no problem with its supporters voting for the National Front, if there is a chance that the Front will win the first round of presidential elections in 2012. Luckily, there are some who will challenge the ruling party; Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Finance Minister Francois Baroin are rejecting this alliance with a racist, right-wing party, which is far from the Republic's values. In any case, irrespective of how much Copé urges, and Sarkozy tries, to mobilize debate around topics that mobilize the extreme right, such as Islam, the low popularity of Sarkozy has other reasons, in addition to economic conditions and unemployment. His personality, as he has revealed to the French people, differs from the image of the presidency that the French would like to see. He is mercurial and tense and seeks to dominate, convinced that he is the most capable person, and is always right; these traits have further eroded his popularity. Although there is a still a year before he can regain the people's trust, it will be difficult for Sarkozy to succeed. Likewise, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for him to abandon the thought of running again and leaving the field open for someone else in his party who is more popular, such as Fillon or Juppe. Even if Sarkozy gives way to someone else, it will be a certain loss for the ruling party.
