Posted on 11/07/2005 5:32:11 PM PST by NZerFromHK
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin seemed to strike the right note in his response to the riots.
But his proposals also showed up the scale of the changes called for in society, to heal the deep wounds that have been exposed.
Mr de Villepin has made a start. No more evasion, and not too much rhetoric about the "values of the Republic."
He has called the situation by its real name - "a crisis in France's cities."
Others have called it a rebellion by an angry underclass.
Mistakes admitted
The French prime minister struck a balance between denouncing the violence and focusing on the future.
The government's response would be "firm and fair". All acts of law-breaking were to be severely condemned.
But France, he acknowledged, had made mistakes in its treatment of its immigrants, especially those from Africa.
Giving a response was a tricky task for a prime minister known for his dashing style but also his record of never having been elected.
He is also known for his romantic notions of French history, but his main goal now is to rescue the sagging reputation of his mentor, President Jacques Chirac.
If Mr de Villepin can fight his way out of this black period he may succeed Mr Chirac as president. If he fails, that prize could go to his arch-rival, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, or another.
After 12 days and nights of riots and car-burning, the prime minister's much-awaited response was in two parts - restoring law and order, and tackling the problems of unemployment of up to 40%, and deep alienation on the part of many among France's more than five million people of Arab and African descent.
Mr de Villepin stressed the government's first priority was to restore calm and stop the nightly violence in the cities and suburbs. He announced:
* Continuing large-scale police deployments, including 1,500 extra reserve officers, in troubled areas
* Swift and effective justice for all law-breakers
* A judicial inquiry into the deaths of two teenagers in Clichy-sous-Bois, Paris, which sparked the riots
* New powers for the mayors of French cities and municipalities, to impose curfews and maintain order
* A restoration of spending programmes (recently cut back) on community associations of all kinds, to promote social solidarity
'Harassment'
Community leaders from France's main ethnic minorities have demanded new laws to end discrimination in jobs and housing, and an end to what they say is police harassment.
They resent police searches for "sans-papiers" - illegal immigrants - and the constant threat of deportation hanging over them. They also want the right to vote, even for those without French citizenship.
In response, Mr de Villepin proposed:
* A tripling of state scholarships in poor areas, and increased spending on training schemes for under-achieving young people. Some 150,000 children, mainly from immigrant families, are leaving school without any qualifications
* A lowering to 14 of the age when children wanting to quit school can begin an apprenticeship; this idea was at once criticised by some teachers' leaders
* More company job training schemes in problem areas. Immigrants with a college degree complain they rarely even get job interviews because of blatant discrimination
* An urban renewal programme, re-building districts damaged by the riots and building more humane living environments
* More, unspecified, sanctions to counter social discrimination of all kinds
The prime minister skirted round the highly sensitive issue of Islam, the religion of the great majority of the immigrants and their offspring.
Many French Muslims demand more public recognition by the state, and resent the law which bans the wearing of Muslim headscarves.
Mr de Villepin said only that in France all faiths were respected. He acknowledged public concerns about the growth of radical Islamic thinking, but played down the urgency of the issue.
The recent riots are called the worst since 1968. The government has taken its stand on how to repair the damage.
Does anyone know ways the wake the BBC from its alternative universe?
How unexpected. France just surrendered....
If that's firm, God save us from squishy.
LOL! Give em all Cadillacs and a million dollar check. That will fix everything! * rolling eyes*
They keep this up, and I might start rooting for the muslim hordes.
Never mind the riots and the burnings. Let's get to the really IMPORTANT question. Can de Villepin's political career be saved?
Yessiree... that sounds like a surrender to me, too.
The immigrants from N. Africa already get so much welfare that they don't have to work. Imagine: you can live in France, in Paris, and not have to work.
That is why everyone comes there.
They are NOT coming, as in the USA, to find work.
There is no work and so they remain unemployed, but on the public dole.
End the welfare, and no one will want to come.
Guess we worried about the French Commmunists for nothing...
Wow. An affirmative action program. How novel. How effective. How pathetic.
Yeah, a good whack from his purse!
So the French gov't is basically paying tribute to the barbarians, hoping they'll stop breaking things. But didn't we do the same thing after the Rodney King/LA riots?
Hollywood Responds with "crickets"
Move Hollywood! Move NOW! You folks can afford the commute from France, and if you can't,,, doubt we'd miss you.
TT
Check out that Hollywood handsome photo of de Villepin! I think the BBC is in love!
I have said the same thing. I don't know who to root for. On the one hand France is trying to "France" their way out of this. On the other hand, we don't want to have to go in again and save France from their selfs again. The idea that France will raise taxes to pay for these actions just makes me squirm with glee as they will prove that they are thegutless-socialist-inept-wannabee power sorry country that they are.
The French are on their own.
Extreme sarcasm.
In truth, I like the French much better than the stinkin Algerian bums. But if they keep appeasing, I won't shed a tear when they castrate Chirac and de Villepan and make them wear burkhas!
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