The media is constantly speculating about the likelihood of former president Nicolas Sarkozy returning to the political fray and ultimately challenging President François Hollande at the next presidential election. Here academic, author and Mediapart contributor Christian Salmon argues that it has always been apparent that Sarkozy would seek revenge for his defeat at the hands of Hollande in 2012, and that the 'will he, won't he' story of his possible return is simply a marketing ploy to get French public opinion acclimatised to the idea. The real issue in 2014, says Salmon, is how to wean France off its addiction to Sarkozyism before it takes hold of the country once again...
If, as the writer Voltaire put it, “in dark times, fables are history” it is also sometimes the case that in the very darkest of times not even fables or any kind of stories do the trick. Instead all that such periods inspire is a desire to look backwards. The heralded return of former president Nicolas Sarkozy to the political fray in France in 2014 belongs to this category.
