Another Batch of French Protests?
If you didn’t know this already, the French like to protest a lot. These aren’t the same kind of protest we are used to where only a few, sporadic groups might participate; These are nationwide protests that can potentially shut down the country and force a lot a people to upgrade their cars.
What might the French want to protest about this time? Well it seems that President Sarkozy wants to modernize France which has led to whispers of revolt in the streets.
While past Presidents have caved to this “street democracy”, Sarkozy will not follow his predecessors examples.
n the same breath, he has made clear that he will not back away from a five-year program for modernizing France - or a showdown in the streets. “I was not elected to bow down in front of all the special interests and everything and everyone opposing change,” he said last week.
With this, Sarkozy can marshal arguments - although with little success in penetrating French public opinion - that purchasing power actually increased last year by 3.3 percent (the best figure in five years), and that growth in France 2008 will be around 2 percent (on target and better than the often-cited models of Britain and Spain).
Finally, a French president with some guts and some past successes already under his belt to back up his position. It’s about time. Too bad the French don’t seem to like him too much because, quite honestly, I would probably like him more than whoever is in the White House come January.
