| The following speech, translated from the French, was given by Nicolas Sarkozy minutes after he was officially elected president of France, on May 6,2007, on the stage of the Gaveau Theater, where he came to thank his supporters. It was broadcast on television. In the French political tradition, the victory speech of a new president-elect is his pledge of faith. <Editor's Note> |
Dear countrymen,
As I speak to you tonight, in a moment that is, you will understand, unique in the life of a man, I feel an immense, sincere and profound emotion. Since my youngest age, I have felt an inexpressible pride to belong to a great, old, beautiful nation: France. I love France as I would love a cherished person who has given me everything, and now, it's my turn to give back to France what France has given me.
Tonight, my thoughts are with the millions of French voters who have given me their trust. I want to tell them that they bestowed upon me the greatest honor that there is in my eyes, when they deemed me worthy to preside over France's destiny. My thoughts go to all those who stood by me during this campaign. I want to express to them my gratitude and my affection. My thoughts are with Madame Royal. I want to tell her that I respect her and her ideas, in which so many French voters recognized themselves. To respect Madame Royal is to respect the millions of French citizens who gave her their votes.
The president of the Republic must love all French people. Therefore, my thoughts go to those who did not vote for me. I want to tell them that beyond political campaigning, beyond differences in opinions, there is in my eyes only one France. I want to tell them that I will be the president of all French citizens, that I will speak in the name of each and every one of them. I want to tell them that tonight is not the victory of one France against another France. Tonight, for me, there is only one victory: the victory of democracy, of the values that unite us, of the ideal that bind us.
My priority will be to do my utmost so that French people always want to communicate with each other, understand each other, work together.
The people of France have expressed their will. They have chosen to break away from the habits, the attitudes and behaviors of the past. I am therefore going to rehabilitate authority, morality, respect. I want to rehabilitate the nation, national identity, I want to give back to the French people their pride in France. I am going to put an end to repentance, which is a form of self-hate, and to the competition between [historical] heritages* which fuels hatred among people.
The people of France have chosen change. I'll enact this will to change because it is the mandate I've received from the people, and because France needs it. But I'll do it with all French people. I'll do it in a spirit of union and fraternity. I'll do it without giving anyone the feeling he is excluded, abandoned. I'll do it so that everyone can find their place in our republic, so that everyone feels taken into account and feels respected in one's dignity as a citizen and as a human being. Those who have been hurt by life, those who have been worn out by life, must know that they will not be abandoned, that they will be helped, that they will be looked after. Those who are under the impression that, whatever they do, they cannot succeed, can rest assured that they will not be discarded and that they will enjoy the same opportunities as others.
I am calling all French citizen, whatever their political affiliation, their religion and origins, to unite with me so that France can move forward. I am asking them not to get trapped in intolerance and sectarianism, but to open themselves to others, to those who have different opinions, to those who have different convictions.
I want to extend an invitation to our European partners, with whom our destiny is deeply linked, and tell them that, all my life, I have been a European, that I deeply believe in the European construction and that, tonight, France in back in Europe. I conjure our European partners to hear the voice of people who want to be protected. I conjure them not to turn a deaf ear to the anger of the people, who perceive the European Union not as a shelter, but as a Trojan horse, carrying within all the threats contained in the transformations of our world.
I want to call out to our American friends to tell them that they can count on our friendship strengthened by the tragedies of history we have endured together. I want to tell them that France will always be on their side when they need help, but I want to add that friendship means accepting that friends can have different opinions. And that a great nation like the United States of America has the duty not to obstruct the fight against global warming, on the contrary, it must take the lead in this cause, because what is at stake is the future of mankind. That cause will be France's first and foremost concern.
I want to call on all the people of the Mediterranean world and tell them that everything that is at stake takes place in the Mediterranean, that we have to overcome hatreds to make way for a great dream of peace and civilization. I want to tell them that the time has come to build together a Mediterranean Union that will be the link between Europe and Africa.
I want to call on all Africans, a fraternal call, and tell Africa that we want to help them fight illnesses, famine, poverty and to live in peace. I want to tell them that we will decide together on a monitored immigration policy and on an ambitious development policy.
I want to call on all those who, throughout the world, believe in tolerance, freedom, democracy, humanism, on those who are persecuted by tyrants and dictators. I want to say to all the children throughout the world, and to all martyred women in the world, that France's duty and pride will be to be by their side.
France will be at the side of the Libyan (sic: Bulgarian) nurses, locked up for the past eight years [in Libya]; France will not abandon Ingrid Betancourt [held hostage by FARC insurgents in Columbia], France will not abandon women condemned to wear a full burqa,(2) France will not abandon women who are deprived of freedom. France will be on the side of the oppressed of the world. It's the message of France, it is the identity of France, it is the history of France.
My dear countrymen, we are going to write together a new page in our history. This page of our history, dear countrymen, will be great and beautiful, I am sure. And from the bottom of my heart, I can tell you with the deepest sincerity that is mine at this moment, as I am talking to you: Vive la republique, vive la France!
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