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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » November 2007-4
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2007-4
Archives: November 22-23, 2007
Rail strike ends but who won?
AFP. Nov. 23, 2007
Most striking French transportation workers returned to work on Nov.
23, ending the most crippling public transit strike in a dozen years.
Both sides claimed some victory in the strike. The BBC opined: “If past
French history is anything to go by, it will be the unions who will win
this war.” But the conservative press such as the Wall Street Journal
and New York Sun and France’s Le Figaro trumpeted Sarkozy’s victory.
The main issues remain unresolved and more strikes are coming.
>More
French prosecutors throw out Rumsfeld torture case
Reuters. Nov 23, 2007
The Paris prosecutors' office has dismissed a suit against Donald
Rumsfeld accusing the former U.S. defense secretary of torture. The
plaintiffs, who included the French-based International Federation of
Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR), alleged Rumsfeld had authorized interrogation techniques
that led to rights abuses. The French prosecutors' office opined that
Rumsfeld benefited from a "customary" immunity from prosecution granted
to heads of state and government and foreign ministers, even after they
left office. The plaintiffs believe that such immunity does not exist
under international law.
>More
Sarkozy Decorates Klarsfeld Nazi hunters
AP. Nov. 23, 2007
On Nov, 23, 2007, President Sarkozy awarded the country's top honors to
Beate Klarsfeld -- made an Officer in the Legion of Honor -- an award
already given to her husband Serge, the country's best-known Nazi
hunter — in recognition of her tenacious search for war criminals, some
of whom operated in France during World War II. Her son Arno Klarsfeld
was named Knight in France's National Order of Merit.
>More
More Call for French Reform
Toronto Star. Nov 23, 2007
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said France is
burdened by the heaviest public spending load in the European Union, a
deficient higher-education system, and an inflexible labour market.
Europe's third-largest economy faces "multi-dimensional" economic
problems, Trichet told a Paris panel appointed by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy charged with spurring economic growth.
>More
The Chirac Investigation: The Corruption of “Old” France
Forbes. Nov. 23, 2007
It marks a first for France under the Fifth Republic: Jacques Chirac,
the former president, was placed under formal investigation for
embezzlement of public funds. The former leader has long been suspected
of involvement in corruption during his time as mayor of Paris, between
1977 and 1995. His former prime minister, Alain Juppe, received an
18-month suspended jail sentence in 2004 for his role in the affairs.
Sarkozy will benefit from the perception of Chirac as an arrogant,
corrupt remnant of "old" France.
>More
Sarkozy urged to support human rights in China
Reporters without Borders. Nov. 23, 2007
Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard has written
to French President Sarkozy urging him to intercede on behalf of
China’s 83 imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents during his
three-day visit to the country that begins on November 25, 2007.
>More
“Sarkozy Must Stay the Course”
Wall Street Journal. Nov. 23, 2007
America’s
business mouthpiece, the Wall Street Journal, comments: “Sarkozy must
neutralize the unions before he can fulfill his promise to make France
globally competitive again.” The huge transport strike, which paralyzed
the country for over a week, could be one of the last. It all depends
on whether France's new leader is more Ronald Reagan or Jacques Chirac.
Mr. Sarkozy might take inspiration from the fortitude that led Reagan
to fire the air traffic controllers on 1981. “Expectations remain high
that Mr. Sarkozy can revitalize a country mired in three decades of
economic gloom.”
> More
Vive le HyperPresident
Haaretz. Nov. 23, 2007
Six
months on the job and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has almost
eradicated any memory of his predecessors. France has never seen a
president like him. He is a scrapper, a megalomaniac or a revolutionary
who is at present causing a social shake-up. “The French like his
feistiness and his impudence and are relying on his toughness to change
the country.”
> More
French Strike Splits Opinion
Seattle Times. Nov. 23, 2007
French
labor unrest has come from public-transit workers, civil servants,
teachers, nurses, tobacco-shop owners, air traffic controllers,
fishermen, even opera stagehands. On Nov. 22, nearly half of France's
universities were shut down by protests. Soon, lawyers and judges will
walk out over their own grievances. But the same day major rail unions
voted to return to work. For all the talk about the strength of the
French labor movement, only 7 percent of workers are union members,
fewer than in the United States.
> More
Transport strike draws to a close
Reuters. Nov. 23, 2007
A
transport strike that has crippled the French rail network wound up on
Friday after workers voted to give talks on pension reform a chance,
but disruption was likely to last until the weekend. The number of
trains rolling on the national rail network and the Paris underground
continued to improve as staff returned to work after most local union
committees voted on Thursday to stop their walk-out, which began on
November 13.
> More
Diana Might Have Been Saved
AFP. Nov. 23
French diplomatic protection police could have prevented the 1997 crash
which killed Princess Diana, had they known of her presence in Paris,
the inquest into her death heard Thursday. A French officer testified
that the British Embassy did not notify his department of Diana’s
presence in France, hence she did not have official protection at the
time of her death.
> More
Chirac vows to 'fight for honour'
BBC. Nov. 23, 2007
French ex-President Jacques Chirac told Frenc TV channel TF1 he will
fight for "truth and honour", after being placed under investigation
for misuse of funds while Paris mayor. Being placed under formal
investigation means that judges believe there is enough evidence
against him to proceed with a more exhaustive investigation, which may
or may not culminate in a trial.
> More
Top Politicians Losing Favour in France
Angus Reid Polls. November 23, 2007
While most people in France continue to hold a positive view of the job
done by Nicolas Sarkozy, the number has markedly declined, according to
two recent public opinion polls. 55 per cent of respondents to a survey
by Ifop for Le Journal du Dimanche are satisfied with the president’s
performance, down four points since October. In a study by CSA for Le
Parisien, 51 per cent of respondents have confidence in Sarkozy to face
the country’s problems, down five points in a month.
> More
Sarkozy Pals Control French Media
Economist. Nov. 23, 2007
French president Sarkozy is best buddies with the millionaires who own
most of France’s media outlets, eroding the independence and
objectivity of news and editorial coverage of his government. More than
three-quarters of the French print media are controlled by Dassault, a
defence company; Lagardère, a media and defence group; Edouard de
Rothschild, a scion of the banking dynasty; and now LVMH: all companies
owned by Sarkozy’s friends. “More than ever, journalists must mobilise
so that editorial independence from political and economic power is
guaranteed,” said the main union of French journalists this week,
voicing indignation at Mr Sarkozy's interference in hiring and firing
of journalists.
> More
More Strikes to Come
Forbes. Nov. 23, 2007
Eight unions representing French public sector workers decided last
night to call a new and broader strike in early December if the
government fails to reopen talks on pay before Nov 30, the unions said.
The public sector workers went on strike for 24 hours earlier this week.
> More
Sarkozy’s Reforms: The Rich Get Richer !
UK Independent. Nov. 22, 2007
Don’t
be fooled by Sarkozy’s rhtetoric about making France more competitive
by forcing workers to lose pay, benefits, and vacation. This is pure
Thatcherian Reagonomics, twenty years after the fact. It didn’t work
for England or America, which has seen the steady erosion of working
class buying power, while the rich have grown fabulously richer. France
has been doing just fine economically despite not adopting the
draconian capitalist measures that have polarized Britian and the USA.
Sarkozy represents the frustrated wing of French business that wants
France’s wealth handed to the elites on a sliver platter. Fortunately,
the strikers see that cutting pensions, closing 200 courts, cutting
11,000 primary school teachers and privatising parts of the university
system, are part of a dangerous pattern.
> More
French Rail Strike May End
AP. Nov,. 22, 2007
French
commuters faced another day of transport delays on Nov. 22, but an end
to a rail strike now in its ninth day appeared to be in sight as many
local union committees voted to return to work. Rail operator SNCF said
42 out of the 45 committees that met on Thursday morning voted to
suspend the stoppages, which were launched to protest President
Sarkozy's plans to cut special pension benefits.
> More
France’s Slow Revolution
YahooNews. Nov. 22, 2007
In
France the dreams of short hours, long lunches, long vacations and
early retirement are dying hard. What is happening here is a
slow-motion revolution as an impatient new president has promised to
change the rules, old and new. Sarkozy believes France cannot compete
for the riches of the modern globe unless it adopts the optimism and
practices of the United States. Because in France, your desitny is tied
to a couple of high school tests, accent, education, and family ties.
If you don’t get into the winning class early on, you end up a loser
for life with no hope of advancement. That’s why unions cling to their
acquired rights.
> More
Support Sarkozy’s “New Thinking”
Washington Post. Nov 22, 2007
WaPo summarizes Sarko’s debut: the Omnipresident’s break with
ossified French thinking is not wholly complete or coherent. In railing
against the supposed evils of Wall Street and economic competition he
has signaled that the paternalistic state and protectionist impulses
are not dead in France. Nonetheless, what he offers is largely new
thinking and a new direction for a country that remains, for all its
problems, one of the engines of Europe's economy.
> More
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