French demonstration: Sarkozy vs the street
More than a million people in a dozen French cities protest at the government's stewardship of the economy
Friday, 30 January 2009
In the biggest demonstrations seen in France for more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets yesterday to protest against everything from the global economic crisis to President Nicolas Sarkozy's efforts to shrink the French state.
About 300,000 people – mostly representing the many tribes of a rejuvenated left-wing movement – marched raucously through the centre of Paris to demand higher wages, more job protection and greater government efforts to stop the country from tipping into a deep recession.
In a carnival atmosphere – one of political defiance, rather than deep popular anger – the trades union and left-wing sympathisers marched to a chanted refrain, in English, of "Yes, yes, yes, we can". This must be the first time that any left-wing French demonstration has invoked the absent spirit of an American president.
A 24-hour nationwide strike, mostly observed by public sector employees, was less effective than predicted but rail and bus services, airports, schools and postal services were disrupted, especially outside Paris.
More worryingly for M. Sarkozy, a poll found that 69 per cent of voters supported the protests – a figure which embraced not just the traditional left and centre, but a large number of right-wing respondents. The President may be further disturbed by the fact that yesterday's demonstrations were held before the recession has begun to bite savagely into the real economy. With France's manufacturing and luxury industries – from cars and aircraft to wine and leather goods – beginning to feel the squeeze, far deeper and angrier unrest may lie ahead.
About 1.5 million people in a dozen cities were said to have joined the rallies, which were called by the eight rival trade union federations. Union leaders said it was the largest social protest since a wave of demonstrations forced President Jacques Chirac to back down on state reforms in 1995.
The marches were the most powerful challenge so far to M. Sarkozy's authority. Police estimated the number of demonstrators in Paris at 65,000 but this was manifestly too low. A dense crowd more than a mile long blocked the Grands Boulevards in the east of the city centre, from the Bastille to La République and beyond, suggesting a turnout of at least 300,000.
The placards carried by marchers were anti-recession, anti-banker, anti-capitalist and anti-reform but most of all, anti-Sarkozy. The parade was led by people carrying an effigy of the President as a green-skinned vampire, with the slogan "Black Death" pinned on his back. Alongside him was an effigy of a donkey in a dunce's cap with the slogan "€36bn for the bankers and we get screwed". The protests, following similar unrest in Greece, the Baltic states and even Iceland, will be closely followed by other European governments. EU leaders have been concerned for weeks that popular anxiety about the recession – and anger and incomprehension at the scale of the banking bailouts – might spill over on to the streets.
Yesterday's rallies across France were mostly good-natured and almost jubilant. The left was delighted to find a unifying issue after 20 months of being outmanoeuvred and humiliated by M. Sarkozy. Leading figures in the Socialist and Communist parties ostentatiously joined the Paris march. The danger for M. Sarkozy, however, is that he so weakened the credibility of the moderate left that social protest will jump to the extremes. Yesterday's march was dotted with crude anti-capitalist images such as bankers in top hats, lighting cigars with €500 notes.
President Sarkozy has already unveiled a €26bn package to boost the economy, as well as special measures to shore up flagging sales of cars and aircraft. But even the most moderate union leaders say more must be done to boost people's declining incomes (something M. Sarkozy repeatedly promised voters in 2007).
Bernard Thibault, the head of the largest union federation, the CGT, said the marches were a "social event of the utmost importance, not just a passing shout of anger". He urged M. Sarkozy and his Prime Minister François Fillon to "re-examine their consciences" and reconsider the scale of their stimulus package. François Chérèque, of the moderate CFDT federation, called for "concrete measures for workers" – in other words pay rises.
M. Sarkozy remained deliberately and obstinately silent yesterday. Last year, he boasted that he had tamed the unions and that "when there is a strike in France, no one notices any more". It appears that he spoke too soon. He may take comfort from the fact that yesterday's strike was mostly observed by public-sector workers whose jobs are not directly threatened by recession. And he will note that the strikes were not as damaging as the unions had forecast: seven in 10 trains ran on the Paris Métro, while six in 10 high-speed TGV trains were operating normally.
Former French first lady's jewels stolen
Burglars have stolen jewels worth €500,000 (£450,000) from the home of President Nicolas Sarkozy's former wife Cécilia, police said yesterday.
A friend of the former first lady – who was divorced from President Sarkozy in October 2007 – said that the stolen valuables were worth far less than the police estimate. She said they were worth around €50,000.
The raid on a house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the wealthy area just west of Paris where M. Sarkozy was once mayor, was on New Year's Eve. It was kept secret until it was leaked yesterday to Le Parisien newspaper.
The former Cécilia Sarkozy, who goes by her new married name, Attias, and her new husband, Richard Attias, are living in Dubai. They were not present at their home at the time.
"The amount of jewellery stolen was [worth] €50,000," said Corinne Debury, a friend of the couple.
Ms Attias, who divorced M. Sarkozy five months after he took office, married M. Attias last March – a month after M. Sarkozy married Carla Bruni. After a period out of the limelight, the former first lady has begun to appear once again on the front cover of glossy French magazines.
John Lichfield
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Comments
It does government and politics good to give those in power a reminder from time to time who pays their wages. If democracy is to have any meaning, govdernment serves us, not the other way round.
Can we Brits do the same about NuLabours oppressive controlling social engineering, self serving greed and total disaster of the economy.
Perhaps decorate a few lampposts with them on the way
These protestors are completely right. Why are governments entrusting so much money in the banks who created this mess. (And are still paying bonuses to staff.)
No help is being given to the individual, the average person on the street who is the real victim who has lost his job, house, income.
The whole crisis and now bailout is nothing short of a scandal. Now it is governments as well as the banks that need to be brought to account.
1) They complain about the banks' bailout, would they rather the banks and economy collapsed?
2) How do they expect Sarkozy to fix the decline in internation demand?
3) Why are the unions demanding pay rises at a time when most companies need to cut costs?
The irrational nature of the Unions will hurt France in the long run. If Sarkozy wishes to solve this problem he must crush the Unions the same way Thatcher did.
eg. the unionised driving instructors of France fiercely defined their right to place restrictions on the amount of qualified instructors allowed purely to presrve waiting lists accross the country of people wishing to learn to drive.
To this extent i actually think this march is just a a French 'Puoff' - it's nothing - it means little except perhaps disdain that an upstart like Sarkozy thinks he's the one with the manners to invite the french to re-modernise themselves. To that extent France still remains in deadlock. But we are looking at a global tendancy of both right and left governements learning towards the centre left and the direct left for domestic policy and neither Sarkozy nor the union backed practices which remain preserved in a state of decay are acting as left orientated bodies in the present tense.