Monday, May 07, 2007

Congratulations Sarko!


So congratulations to Nicholas Sarkozy, the new President of France. Some observations;

i) Voter turnout was an astonishing 85%. Not sure this is a good thing or not. Whilst it is surely an impressive statistic, it also underlies the fact that the French electorate realises that something has gone terribly wrong with French politics of late.


ii) Readers of the BBC's Have Your Say site are overwhelmingly in favour of Sarkozy - interesting.

iii) The car burning has begun. 500 anti-Sarkozy demonstrators, some wearing masks and

carrying black flags, are fighting riot police with bricks and bottles at the Place de la Bastille in Paris. 34 cars were torched last night in the Paris area and 20 in Lille. In Evry, a police patrol was shot at at the Place de la Commune. Unidentified gunmen armed with pump rifles were spotted in the Grande Borne a Grigny.

iv) Is the much-loved French 'innovation', the 35-hour week, now in jeopardy?

Best place to follow unfolding events is No Pasaran.