The presentation was attended by Danielle Mitterand.

Fréderic Mitterand, the culture minister, spoke of a scary America that has just shown its face.

In fact, when François Mitterand was elected in 1981, the left had been out of power since 1957.

The Government even deported Nobel Peace recipient Mairead Maguire and included in the banned list the French First Lady, Danielle Mitterand.

Its two passages to power ten years under Mitterand and five years with Prime Minister Lionel Jospin forced the left to reconcile with reality.

For all the authoritarian habits of de Gaulle or François Mitterand, Sarkozy s personalization of the presidency is unprecedented in the history of the Fifth Republic.

But the primary importance of the election result is the left s return to power for only the second time in 31 years. In fact, when François Mitterand was elected in 1981, the left had been out of power since 1957.