Weakened French PM vows to battle on
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed yesterday to battle on "until the end", rejecting growing speculation he might resign over a youth job law that has brought millions onto the streets. Mr Villepin's popularity has slumped during weeks...
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed yesterday to battle on "until the end", rejecting growing speculation he might resign over a youth job law that has brought millions onto the streets. Mr Villepin's popularity has slumped during weeks of protests against his First Job Contract (CPE) and the prime minister has also been weakened inside the ruling right after President Jacques Chirac promised changes to the CPE last Friday.
But Mr Villepin said he had a job to finish in the government. "The president has entrusted me with a mission - to lead the battle for jobs, to respond to the concerns of our compatriots," Mr Villepin told a news conference.
"This battle, I will lead it until the end," he said. Commentators have said Mr Villepin has become sidelined over the CPE because lawmakers from Mr Chirac's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) are now leading talks with unions on possible amendments and were meeting student leaders later yesterday. Mr Villepin said he was willing to listen to all proposals emerging from the talks but stopped short of saying that a repeal of the CPE - as unions demand - was possible.
"We have opened a period of dialogue, without any preconditions, any taboos," Mr Villepin said. "My immediate priority of course is to calm (the situation). It's time to get out of the crisis."
The contract became law on Sunday but the government has urged employers not to use it before the changes. Trade unions, scenting victory after millions protested in past weeks, have given the government until April 15 to repeal the contract.
"The prime minister has again justified the CPE even though nothing is possible without the fatal blow being, in fact, dealt to the CPE, and very quickly," the Force Ouvriere union said in a statement after Mr Villepin's address.
Some 50 universities remained disrupted across France as students continued protests against the contract, which allows employers to summarily fire workers under the age of 26 during the first two years without stating a reason.