De Villepin is caught between the hammer and the anvil. Habibou Hamadou Maiga scans the French press for clues This week, the French press stressed that the country's Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin, confronted with a significant social crisis and the lowest popularity rating to date, has been further weakened by the crisis of the Youth labour law known in France as the CPE (Contrat Première Embauche). However, following a monthly press conference last Thursday, many newspapers have highlighted his determination to stand his ground. Le Parisien (7 April, 2006) carries a large photograph of De Villepin on its front page under the title: "I am there, I remain there." Didier Micoine writes "De Villepin folds but does not break. Isolated within the majority, at his lowest point in the poll, the prime minister does not disarm." France-Soir carries the same refrain. In an article titled "De Villepin plays at 'I am there, I remain there'" Christelle Bertrand comments: "Everyone is in waiting for the magic word which, this time round, is not lapse resignation." In Le Figaro, Bruno Jeudy points out: "As a good marathonian, a discipline that he practices assiduously, De Villepin decided to run the race of Matignon [The prime minister headquarter] until the end of the presidential mandate. There is little evidence that he will release the reins of the power." For Le Monde, the prime minister is caught between "the syndicates hammer and the anvil of his majority." The paper wonders if the government has completely lost its senses. The executive is in tatters, the ministers are bickering and the majority is divided. In fear of leaving behind a power vacuum, the syndicates are pushing their full advantage by issuing an ultimatum to repeal the CPE in time for the mid-April parliamentary recess. "This blackmailing could be considered risky to the social cohesion. But who takes the responsibility for that, if not a deaf and brusque government which, yesterday, was paralysed, and is today thrown into a panic?" asked the paper. Libération (8 April 2006) sees the crisis as a dark moment for right-wing conservative parties and points out that the country is becoming increasingly exasperated. "It is all the more dismaying that, behind the façade of pseudo-negotiation with the actors of the crisis, it was initially arbitrations between the principal personalities of the state that defined the political climate. When it is finally time to assess the situation, it is likely that the French right leaders will find themselves the ultimate losers on all fronts" warns the article. "Once we are done with the semantic buffooneries and palinodes of the politicians, it will be time to confront the true question, that the revolt against the CPE has placed on the collective table: how to end to the French ill of endemic unemployment which destroys human beings and prosperity? Under the title: "The political crisis" the political chronicle in the regional daily Les Dernières Nouvelles D'Alsace (9 April 2006) points out that the prime minister did everything to deny the existence of a political crisis during his press conference. "He proclaimed that the majority was linked perfectly, that the government worked effectively and in good harmony, and that he himself applied the orientations of the president of the republic." But the chronicle argues that the "three crises cohabit", pointing out that "it is necessary to distinguish between the crisis of confidence between De Villepin and Jacques Chirac, the regime crisis which has damaged the institutions and the crisis of society which apparently refuses any idea of reform. These three crises are tangled up with one another, but have not reached the same stage of development. Inevitably, this coincidence makes the situation more difficult to decipher." The article goes on to clarify the crisis of confidence which strikes the two heads of the executive, Jacques Chirac and Dominique de Villepin, calling this situation: "A climate of the end of reign" something which should be sufficient evidence that the poll should be reviewed. "Obviously, the French people do not expect anything any more from Jacques Chirac, whose popularity is at an all time low. As for De Villepin, who only nine months ago was considered "interesting" and three months ago was "intriguing", today, he is widely seen as a terrible disappointment."
