By Ramin Namvari

The Sarkozy presidency has been, in one sense, one of great anomaly in the history of the Fifth Republic. The incumbent has been criticized for being insufficiently engaged in that essential domain of the French Republic: culture.

There seems to be an unwritten tradition in French politics, that the occupant of the top position of authority in France have a peculiar cultural or literary preference, a dada culturel as they call it in France.

For Charles De Gaul this was a love of history and literature. Georges Pompidou was fond of Contemporary art, while Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was passionate about the writings of Guy de Maupassant. François Mitterand on his part admired the works of Serbo-Croat writer Ivo Andric, and Jacques Chirac was enthusiastic about Chinese and Japanese art.

And in conjunction with their specific cultural habits, the presidents embarked on landmark architectural projects during their presidency. Pompidou, started the Pompidou centre for contemporary art, Mitterand established a number of venues, notably the Louvre Pyramid and the Bastille Opera, and Chirac opened the Musée Branly dedicated to Asian and African civilizations.

But Sarkozy never took muck of a liking to such cultural pleasures and has diminished their significance as elitist and detached from society.

“A politician that does not watch TV, cannot know the French people.” said Sarkozy in the run-off to the presidential election in 2007.

As ever the logic of Mr.Sarkozy’s assertions is unassailable. It is certainly elitist and unacceptable to seek to represent and promote the best of your country as a president, but hosting luxurious parties with the richest businessmen in France, like the one the president held at Fouquet after winning the 2007 presidential election can be forgiven.

In any case, more recently the president has had to adjust. He has been seen carrying around classics by Dostoyevsky and Stefan Zweig and is said to enjoy the cinema of Carl Theodor Dreyer.

After all he has promised to become a different kind of president this time around.