‘Hollande
desperate to pass French labor reforms by any means’
French
President Francois Hollande needs to find a way to implement new
labor reforms in France by any means in order to be reelected for
another term, political analyst Pierre Schweitzer told RT.
RT,
May, 2016
Protests against the French government's controversial labor reforms hit Paris on Wednesday. The proposed changes will allow employers to negotiate longer working hours and decrease overtime rates.
May, 2016
Protests against the French government's controversial labor reforms hit Paris on Wednesday. The proposed changes will allow employers to negotiate longer working hours and decrease overtime rates.
RT: President
Francois Holland has made it clear he's not going to back down on the
reforms. How much pressure is he under?
Pierre
Schweitzer:
The pressure comes from both sides. I don’t think he can afford
giving up this reform, because this is his last reform, and he wants
to be reelected. Some people speculate that he won’t run for a
second mandate, but most probably he will... If he does, he needs to
end on a good note. So he needs this reform to be passed by any
means.
RT: The
government has approved a new two-month extension of the state of
emergency. What's the purpose of that move, do you think?
PS:
The motivation is simple. Of course it doesn’t make them very
popular to extend it for no obvious reason. It would definitely come
[as a] backlash into the government’s face if anything happens
during EURO 2016 in France, the football, or during the cycling Tour
de France. It is probably just a safety measure: better safe than
sorry.
RT: Yesterday
the police launched their own protest over violent acts against them
by rioters, including cars being torched. Do you think the protesters
have crossed a line here?
PS:
Yes, parts of the protesters have definitely crossed the line... I am
not usually against the police or anything; this is definitely not my
thing. But here from what I could see, from what I could read and
from what I could witness in the street in my town, there is
definitely some disproportional rage against the police. As a matter
of fact 82 percent of the population, according to a recent poll,
supports the police. So there is definitely a bit of cop violence,
but it’s probably nothing compared to what they have to face in
return from some of the protesters. And the last thing, as days go
by, as weeks pass, there are fewer and fewer protesters in the
streets. And the fewer there are the more violent [protests] become.
This is something that many analysts have noted overtime.
RT: On
the other side of the argument. France's unemployment rate is at an
18-year high of more than 10 percent, with one in four under-25s
unemployed. Do you think many in France see these reforms as
necessary, to turn the situation round?
PS:
It’s really hard to say…People elected this government to make
reforms, but they didn’t elect the government to make this
particular reform. It is a socialist government… People elected a
socialist government and now this is a Social Democrat’s policy
that is being conducted. I’m personally in favor of reforms. Most
people who voted for so long may not vote for him again, because of
this reform. But if he doesn’t do this reform, then he will be
accused of having done nothing, which is probably even worse - he is
just choosing the lesser of two evils.
Meanwhile in Austria
Meanwhile in Austria
The
Green Party’s Alexander Van der Bellen has won Austria’s
presidential election, beating the Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer in
a neck and neck race, according to the Interior Ministry. A mere 0.6
percent of the mail-in ballot made the difference.
The
Interior Ministry’s figures showed Van der Bellen won with a final
total of 50.3 percent of the vote, with Hofer securing 49.7.
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