France's Sarkozy calls for compromise over jobs law

Reuters ^ | Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:55 AM EST | Thierry Leveque

[SunkenCiv]

Nicolas Sarkozy, a self-declared candidate for the 2007 presidential elections, expressed understanding for the young demonstrators in a speech at a meeting of his UMP party.

"Twenty years of mass unemployment, 15 years of mediocre economic growth, 10 years of sluggish purchasing power, seven political changes since 1981 -- how can we blame the young for saying out loud what their parents think?" he said.

Sarkozy was clearly seeking to distance himself from Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is also expected to run in next year's election and who held unsuccessful talks with labor union leaders on the row on Friday.

"Knowing to find a compromise, that is being courageous and useful to France. That is what the UMP demands and expects," Sarkozy said.

"When young people see (the law) as unjust, it is necessary to remove misunderstandings by organizing the conditions for dialogue and compromise," he added.

The row over the CPE First Job Contract, which allows employers to fire people under 26 without giving a reason during a two-year trial period, is one of the biggest crises in Villepin's 10-month administration.

[SunkenCiv]

Unhappy ending to Sarkozy affair as it takes a novel twist Charles Bremner Cécilia Sarkozy, the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Interior Minister and political star, has packed her bags and returned to her lover in New York... Her abrupt departure came just weeks after a high-profile reconciliation with her husband at Charles de Gaulle airport when she returned from a seven-month escapade with M Attias. She promised to remain faithful to her marriage, and M Sarkozy ended a relationship struck up with a political reporter from Le Figaro during his wife’s absence.

[SunkenCiv]

Brutal murder was anti-Semitic crime, says Sarkozy
Guardian | 02/22/06 | Kim Willsher in Paris
Posted on 02/21/2006 11:59:27 PM EST by Pikamax
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1583225/posts

The Man Who Would Be le Président (Nicholas Sarkozy alert)
The Weekly Standard | 2/27/2006 (weekly issue) | Christopher Caldwell
Posted on 02/18/2006 9:00:13 AM EST by Dark Skies
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1581053/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Ping!

[haroldeveryman]

"..... the wife of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French Interior Minister and political star, has packed her bags and returned to her lover in New York... Her abrupt departure came just weeks after a high-profile reconciliation with her husband at Charles de Gaulle airport when she returned from a seven-month escapade with M Attias. She promised to remain faithful to her marriage, and M Sarkozy ended a relationship struck up with a political reporter from Le Figaro during his wife’s absence."

And the French think our politicians are boobs!

[Vicomte13]

This is a chance for Sarkozy to break the pin that Villepin has had him in for several months. The CPE was heavy-handed, and was Villepin's baby. Villepin sought to "tough it out",which of course must fail if a strike generalizes. That is what the CPE strike did.

So, Sarkozy now seeks to sound conciliatory and take up the mantle of the UMP.

It may work.
But more than likely, the voters will simply reject the UMP in totum.
I think that de Villiers, in particular, is likely to siphon off moderate right votes concerned about immigration and security.

The Socialists have a chance to return to power, but they have to present somebody who has something going for her...

[mikey565]

France is a beautiful country, too bad the French live there.

[Torie]

That is one of the most mealy mouthed statements I have ever heard. Sad. The French must have a gene that finds pleasure in failure.

[SunkenCiv]

related:

http://egyptelection.com/content/view/125/1/
http://egyptelection.com/Images/03-06/S%E9gol%E8ne-Royal.jpg
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11241
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/11278

[CheyennePress]

"Twenty years of mass unemployment, 15 years of mediocre economic growth, 10 years of sluggish purchasing power, seven political changes since 1981..."

...AND THEY WANT THE SAME OLD CRAP!

*rolls eyes & sighs*

[Mike Darancette]

[SunkenCiv]

Possible woman president in France.Madame Royal could be France's next president
THE GUARDIAN | 01/18/2005
Posted on 01/18/2006 7:53:09 AM EST by montreal
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1560185/posts

[Nonstatist]

The Socialists have a chance to return to power,

With conservatives like Sarkozy, no wonder

[Billthedrill]

Same crap we hear too often from Democrats - say anything, no matter how harmful to the country, as long as it smears an opponent and advances one's own political power. I though better of Sarkozy than that.

[Berlin_Freeper]

During the heatwave a few years ago the French went off to vacation and allowed their elderly to perish by the tens of thousands so they could collect their wealth.

Now we see them tossing their youth to the wolves to help secure their own socialist life style.

Is anybody around here ever expecting anything positive from the French? Just look at how they treat their own people.

[Malesherbes]

Can the Socialists do anything but make things worse?

[American in Singapore]

Speaking of frogs and courage, where's that pillar of courage, Johnny Depp, living these days?

[Vicomte13]

"During the heatwave a few years ago the French went off to vacation and allowed their elderly to perish by the tens of thousands so they could collect their wealth."

That is utter nonsense. It is not what happens.
French families go off on vacation in summer every year.
What was different that year was that it was the worst heatwave in France's history, hotter than ever, lasting longer than ever. France does not have summers like America, and hardly anyone has, or needs air conditioning, except that summer. People did not have the experience with weather like that. They did not simply leave their parents and grandparents to cook, so they could take their money. Nobody knew what to do. Nobody knew that the weath was going to be that bad, for that long. Nobody had any experience with it. If a blizzard hit Hawaii and a lot of people died in the hills for lack of access, lack of heat, it would not be because of the evil conniving islanders. It would be because nobody in Hawaii was prepared, physically or mentally, for a freak weather phenomenon that never happened before. You cannot rightly malign people for killing their families in freak weather they had no experience with. The suffering in France all around was very intense that summer. It was not anybody's fault.

[Vicomte13]

"Can the Socialists do anything but make things worse?"

It depends.
Tony Blair is Labour, but he has been better for England than the corrupt and fading Conservative government was at the end.

Mme Royal brings a particular perspective that has not before been expressed in French politics. She is far more likely to represent her own particular set of opinions and interests than a male partisan hack.

[gaspar]

Sarkozy is the Muslim nightmare. He is the only one who has cracked down on the Islamist activity, and he is not afraid of cracking heads. Right now he is hanging Villepin out to twist in the wind. If I were a twenty year old I wouldn't put too much stock in his touchy-feely response to this crisis.

[Vicomte13]

"If I were a twenty year old I wouldn't put too much stock in his touchy-feely response to this crisis."

If you were a French 20-year old, you wouldn't put too much stock in anything that any government official in any capacity or party had to say about anything, because you would have already spent 18 years facing the government system, and you'd know that there is universal faineance.