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Students, workers reject Chirac deal, threaten fresh agitation

Vaiju Naravane

Observers say President's decision is a "dangerous half-measure", warn of turmoil

PHOTO: AP

STORMING THE BASTILLE: A man shouts as a crowd gathers during a televised address to the nation by French President Jacques Chirac on the Bastille Square in Paris on Friday.

Paris: French President Jacques Chirac in a nationwide televised address has announced he would promulgate the controversial labour legislation but would also introduce a new law significantly watering down certain controversial clauses in the present legislation.

This has left constitutional experts mulling what exactly the President meant since the present law, which has led to huge demonstrations across France, will be promulgated but not applied in its present form.

The reaction of student bodies, trade unions and the Left-wing Opposition was immediate and hostile. They vowed to continue the fight and said another nation-wide strike would take place on Tuesday. The President's address brought forth boos and catcalls from thousands of protesters who had gathered in Paris' Place de la Bastille (where the 1789 French Revolution started and shouts of "Chriac resign!" and "Chirac get off, the street rules!" rent the air.

Demonstrators rampaged through the streets in Paris and other cities in protests that lasted until early Saturday. In the capital, protesters smashed store windows, damaged cars, threw bottles at police and attacked the offices of a Member of Parliament during a march by more than 2,000 people across the city. Police said about 100 persons were arrested and two police officers were slightly hurt.

In a solemn address carried live from the Elysee Palace on television and radio, Mr. Chirac said he had decided to promulgate the law because it had been voted through Parliament and because "I believe the First Employment Contract (CPE) can be an effective tool for employment."

However, he also said he had understood the "anxieties being expressed by many young people and their parents" over the contract, which allows employers to fire under 26 year-olds during a two-year trial period without explanation.

"That is why I have asked the Government to immediately prepare two modifications to the law on the points which have been at the heart of the debate.

"The (trial) period of two years shall be reduced to one year. And if the contract is broken, the right of the young worker to know the reasons shall be written into the new law," he said. The President said Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin — who formulated the CPE — would take steps to ensure that "in practice no contract can be signed that does not fully include these modifications."

President's dilemma

Political commentators described the President's decision as "a highly dangerous half-measure" which could plunge the nation into political and social turmoil and lead to street violence of the type that hit French suburbs six months ago.

The President is caught between his support to Mr. Villepin and his wariness of street violence.

"He has chosen the worst possible solution. This decision is going to harden our political resolve. The President should not underestimate the power of the street," said Bruno Julliard, the charismatic 25-year-old leader of the largest students' union in France.

"The President has understood nothing. His initiative is incomprehensible. On the one hand he says the law must be applied. And on the other he wants another law to modify the one we've just adopted. It's worthy of a banana republic," said Jean-Louis Walter of the CFE-CGC union.

But Nicolas Sarkozy — the powerful Interior Minister who is Mr. Villepin's rival ahead of next year's presidential race — said Mr. Chirac had taken a "wise decision" and he promised to help in the drafting of the new law.

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