(AINA) -- Paris vaut bien une messe ("Paris is well worth a Mass") --- A Protestant Henry III of Navarre on adopting Catholicism in 1593 to become the king of France.

As soon as the news of Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in presidential election was announced, three hundred socialists and anarchists responded by rioting on the streets of Paris. The French riot control police had a tough time in taming them. They shouted 'Sarko-fascist' and reiterated their accusation that Sarkozy would turn France into an authoritarian state.

But French electorate appear to have a saner understanding of the situation than those 19 th century relics. Hence they handed out a conservative Sarkozy a comfortable victory against socialist hopeful Ségolène Royal. Jacque Chirac, having presided over France for 12 years, had incurred great unpopularity. But socialist Royal, failed to capitalize upon this rightist anti-incumbency, because she proved a status quo candidate. A rightist Sarkozy carried the electorate with him by projecting his maverick image strongly.

"Occasion" said Napoleon Bonaparte, 'produces the leader". Napoleon, in the post-Revolution turmoil of France, had distinguished himself as one. His Tuscan ancestry or Corsican birth not withstanding, French nation loved him deeply. Just ask a Frenchman why there is no boulevard, or park named after Napoleon in France. He would say that Napoleon was too big a person- entire France is Napoleon.

Why today the French nation has handed the baton of history to a person of non-French ancestry? Sarkozy is the son of a Hungarian immigrant father. His Sephardic Jewish genealogy from maternal side shows on his face, and his grit. His name, like Napoleon's accent, is not really French. Napoleon dropped the letter 'u' from his surname Bounparate; Sarkozy has added de Nagy-Bosca to appear French. The French nation sees in Sarkozy a leader who can rise to the occasion. He is not only a fine orator, but a man of action. His tough stance on the night riots in France in 2005, indulged in by North African immigrants, has endeared him to French people.

Sarkozy had attributed the riots to a 'well-organized conspiracy'. November 9, 2005, after 13 nights of rioting ordered the expulsion of all foreigners convicted of taking part in the riots. He told that Parliament that 120 foreigners found guilty of involvement would be deported without delay.

Today across French cities there are hundreds of no-go areas. A French urban department neatly lists out 751 Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or Sensitive Urban Zones, actually no-go areas (which are mini Islamistan). Home to nearly five million North African immigrants, or eight percent of France, these are like sovereign territories where French laws are unenforceable. Frenchmen are resigned to annual burning of 1400 cars by Arab hoodlums. In 20-nights long riots of 2005, some 8973 vehicles were burnt. The cars of Muslim owners, which sport verses of Koran or stylish map of Algeria, are selectively left out.

French police, even on regular patrol, come under attacks from North African immigrants. In 2006 alone, the figure was more than 2500. A right wing police union claimed that Muslims were waging a civil war against them.

Last October Sarkozy admitted "We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists. This is not a question of urban violence any more; it is an intifada, with stones and Molotov cocktails. You no longer see two or three youths confronting police, you see whole tower blocks emptying into the streets to set their 'comrades' free when they are arrested".

The socialists and anarchists, who received Sarkozy's victory by rioting on the street, are blind to how Arabs are running riot with France's proverbial liberalism. To what extent Sarkozy, an elected President, can stem the civilizational rot of liberal France. He is a practising Catholic himself, and has spoken about reducing the gulf between the Church and state, religion and public life for Frenchmen. Remember, the 2005 night-riots erupted, weeks before the centenary of laicism -- the 1905 law separating Church from the state. Laicism was meant to give leeway to the Jews in the aftermath of infamous Dreyfus affair. But Western Europe is realising to its horrors, that dealing with Islam, is altogether different ball game.

Personally, Napoleon was a non-religious person, who subscribed to the ideas of French Revolution. But scandalized by the atheism unleashed by the French revolution, he rehabilitated Christianity in France after assuming power. Today what will Sarkozy do stem the secular rot in the French life, which threatened with Islam, is gravely imperilled. This explains Sarkozy's emphasis on Christianity. No wonder of the four pillars of Sarkozy's party Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (along with Gaullism, Republicanism, and Radicalism) is Christian democracy.

By Priyadarsi Dutta

Priyadarsi Dutta is based in New Delhi, India and writes for the multi-edition newspaper The Pioneer.