Nice-Premium: Polls give Nicolas Sarkozy a wide lead. What do you think about this and what is your opinion on opinion polls in general?
Agnes Rampal: It’s true that the polls widely favor Sarkozy and I think it’s normal because he is the only presidential candidate who has a program adapted to the current socio-economic realities; Polls are always interesting, but in the last presidential elections they showed their limits. An election is only won or lost at the moment the results are announced.
NP: In the 2007 campaign, purchasing power replaced insecurity from 2002. Nicolas Sarkozy believes that wages are too low and charges are too burdensome. He wants to be the “President of Purchasing Power” by advocating for more work and favoring overtime. Is this theme a priority for you, and can you briefly explain the mechanism of the proposed increase in purchasing power by the UMP candidate?
AR: Yes, the theme of purchasing power is an essential theme: it is what constitutes the everyday lives of the French; How can one earn more by working less? When you see that our European neighbors work more and longer, we can’t continue to deceive the French by making them believe that we can continue to have quality and free public services and a decent retirement without working more: it’s our children who will bear our debts! If we earn more money, we spend more and boost the economic machine: ultimately, more people pay taxes.
NP: What are the key measures in favor of Education that you highlight from Nicolas Sarkozy’s program? How do you apply his “School of Authority and Respect” and excellence for all the children of the Republic?
AR: Education is in crisis, all the presidential candidates know it. Education should not only “instruct” but also “educate,” make our children “responsible citizens” but we need to restore authority to the teachers for this: a teenager must have boundaries, and all parents know well that they are tested by their children; an unstructured child grows up poorly: he is not secure. There is no flagship measure but the will to give professionals the means.
NP: Let us discuss the opponents of Nicolas Sarkozy. Ten days ago Ségolène Royal was on TF1. The spokespeople of the UMP judged her to be “a candidate without a project for France.” Do you share this view?
AR: Yes, I watched Ségolène Royal on TF1; friendly, listening to the French, full of good intentions but without a genuine methodology for the reforms to be made; for me, she does not have the stature or the program of a presidential candidate.
NP: François Bayrou sees his popularity rising. He is nibbling from the right and from the left. What should Nicolas Sarkozy do to recover the right-wing voters seduced by the candidate Bayrou?
AR: Yes, François Bayrou is rising in the polls: he is benefitting from Ségolène’s erosion, but I don’t think he can be elected. We are coming out of long periods of left-right cohabitation which have been disastrous; with François Bayrou this pattern continues; it must be explained to the French, they will understand.
NP: How will you take part in the campaign?
AR: Taking part in the campaign for me is to explain and disseminate Nicolas Sarkozy’s program; you know it has been a long time since a presidential election has been so important for the choices of French society tomorrow: do we want to leave our children an even more indebted France, where work is not considered, and where welfare is either excessive or poorly distributed?
NP: Finally, tell us about one measure from Nicolas Sarkozy’s program that is close to your heart.
AR: I won’t cite a key measure because there are many, but what is most dear to me is this real desire to make things move in the right direction, and we really need it!!
