Le Divorce

I watched the strikes unfold yesterday on the internet from my office. Interestingly, another news story edged the strike out of the top headlines during the day: the divorce of President Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia.

For the most part, Paris went on as usual. The streets had more bikes than normal, including the new rental bikes provided by the city, the Velib. But the story of the divorce was seen as both ordinary and surprising. The French pride themselves on having a very different response to the private lives of their politicians compared to Americans. During the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the French probably shrugged and said "C'est normal." After all, former President Francois Mitterand was well-known to have a mistress by whom he had a child. The polls say that the majority of French people believe that this divorce will have no effect on Sarkozy's ability to work as President.

But, somewhat surprisingly, the Sarkozy divorce seemed to become the big news of the day. The President's private life had become public and was the subject of much discussion. Perhaps the French are more interested in these things than they like to admit. Or maybe Sarkozy, the "American-style" president is getting American-style media attention. There was a little bit of Schadenfreude (taking pleasure in the suffering of others, as the Germans call it) in the press which has been critical of Sarkozy.

But there are two ways to read this episode. On one hand, someone might pity Sarkozy because of his personal loss at a moment of political crisis. He had campaigned on the idea that his wife would be an informal member of his administration (a kind of Hillary Clinton circa 1992), but now she abandons him when he needs her most. Will Sarkozy's poll numbers go up as a result of sympathy?

But the other way to look at this is to note that on Wednesday, the presidential spokesman vehemently denied any impending divorce. Then, the very next day, it was announced as a fait accompli. Did Sarkozy time the announcement of the divorce to blunt the media's coverage of the strike? Here's a quote from one of Sarkozy's political rivals as reported in the New York Times: “The Élysée has chosen this Thursday, a day of strong social mobilization, to make the information official,” said Annick Lepetit, the Socialist Party’s national secretary, in a communiqué. “We will leave it to the French people to judge if it’s only a simple coincidence.”

Either way, the strike continues today, and I'm back in the office rather than the library. And Paris rolls on.

(Image from the New York Times website)