Regards, Ivan
Posted on 04/05/2006 1:17:28 AM PDT by MadIvan
The French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, was clinging to office last night amid a series of humiliations in his battle to force new job laws on a hostile public.
At least a million demonstrators took to the streets for a fifth day of protest, demanding the repeal of the law providing for contentious "first job contracts" (CPE). Marches and strikes were staged as students and trade unions rejected concessions ordered by President Jacques Chirac.
Violence flared again last night in Paris, where organisers claimed 700,000 people were on the march. Police put the figure at 80,000 and official estimates of those protesting nationally were well below the three million claimed.
Many regard the CPE, which has been signed into law but remains effectively suspended pending the formal revision sought by Mr Chirac, as dead. Protest leaders insist that their campaign will continue.
Disruption caused by strikes was patchy and less severe than a week ago. As many as a third of flights were cancelled but most TGV trains ran and the Paris Metro operated a near-normal service.
The dispute has left the prime minister sidelined, with his biggest rival - Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister - essentially in charge of ending the crisis and the president desperately trying to present a united front. Mr de Villepin, lower than ever in the polls and caricatured as "a virtual prime minister" on one Paris banner, told parliament: "The priority is to come out of the current crisis. It is not in the interest of anyone, especially the youth who are looking for jobs and await solutions to their difficulties."
He has repeatedly said he has no intention of resigning, despite the revolt against a policy he devised and pushed through parliament.
Aides say he will seek to reassert his authority before the end of this week but he has been severely wounded.
For Mr Chirac, almost certainly only a year away from leaving office, questions of pride loom large. He is said to be obsessed by the desire to prevent the last of his 12 years as president being remembered for outbreaks of unrest.
Mr de Villepin intended the CPE - two-year contracts making it simpler to hire and fire people aged under 26 - as an answer to youth unemployment of more than 20 per cent.
Students and unions say it would erode job protection and turn young people into "throwaway labour".
They dismiss Mr Chirac's compromise - cutting the trial period from two years to one and obliging employers to give reasons for dismissal - as insufficient. Further concessions may be offered.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
DANG! That commie looks like he is going to be limping for a while.
Lucky that his leg was not severed.
France is doomed.
I see three possible outcomes to this flirtation with anarchy and chaos.
1. Villepin resigns and is replaced by Nicholas Sarkozy the only Pro-American, Center Right Pro-capitalist politician in France with any cajones. This would pave the way for Sarkozy to run and win the Presidential election in 2007.
2.The situation falls apart and the Ultra Far Right Neo-Nazi National Front Party led by Jean-Marie le Pen comes to power. Because le Pen is close to 80, his daughter Marine would be the puppet in this neo-fascist government.
3. The right loses it completely and the extreme Left Socialist and worse comes to power.
IMO only solution #1 can save France.
I am fairly certain that the next president of France will be the Socialist, Segolene Royal. She will portray herself as being "Blairite", in order to win enough votes from the centre.
This means, no change until a crisis point is reached. I suspect after it falls apart under the Socialists, then the National Front will gain votes.
Regards, Ivan
Cool, so when would his arrest and trial commence? Are there charges pending his departure from office?
Yoots. Nuthin but trubble.
I've thought the same thing. I believe he has been trying to pass a law baring his being indicted.
Sadam passed the same type laws, lot of good it did him.
I look for war in the streets, not just unrest but a large bloody confrontation.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Glad I don't live in France
"2.The situation falls apart and the Ultra Far Right Neo-Nazi National Front Party led by Jean-Marie le Pen comes to power. Because le Pen is close to 80, his daughter Marine would be the puppet in this neo-fascist government.
3. The right loses it completely and the extreme Left Socialist and worse comes to power."
I THINK THE RESULT WILL BE EITHER 2 OR 3. LE PEN AND HIS GANG HAVE BEEN STEADILY GAINING SUPPORT IN RECENT FRENCH ELECTIONS. THE ULTRA RIGHT PARTY IN AUSTRIA CAME TO POWER WHEN NO ONE THOUGHT THEY COULD, MAYBE THE WEASELS WILL ALSO TURN THAT DIRECTION. I HOPE THEY DON'T.
Are you saying that LePen is a nazi? At 80 was he a Vichy or even a Waffen recruit?
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