Post by Moses on Nov 18, 2005 18:55:20 GMT -5
Chirac's Speech: No for Le Pen and No for Sarkozy
Randa Takieddine Al-Hayat - 18/11/05//
18 days after the acts of violence and anarchy in the French suburbs, the French President Jacques Chirac delivered a speech, bearing an implicit message addressed to all the French circles: France will not be the republic the leader of the "French Nationalist Front" Jean-Marie Le Pen thrives for. France will never be the state that rejects French citizens of immigration descent; as it will not spur racism, partition and discrimination.
Chirac, through his speech, also sought to distinguish himself from the proposals of the Minister of Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is hoping to succeed Chirac in the presidency, even by attracting the far right-wing voters, which are numerous in France.
Despite the fact that Chirac was late in dealing with the crisis of the French suburbs, keeping silence for several days, though in his speech, he presented an accurate diagnosis of the reasons behind the acts of violence in the French suburbs. Indeed, President Chirac believed it was a "crisis of identity and belonging." He promised that France will respond, firmly and fairly, in compliance with the values of the Republic.
President Chirac also stressed the importance of changing the prevailing rationale in the French society, urging companies, associations and unions to mobilize in order to fight discrimination in the job market. President Chirac indicated for example that some companies are excluding job applications received by applicants with foreign names.
Chirac also declared the establishment of what he called "voluntary civil service" to train and guide more than 50,000 youngsters in the year 2007 to prevent them from being unemployed. He also rejected the negative discrimination Sarkozy suggested, stipulating to impose a "quota" on companies and administrations for employing youngsters from immigrant decent.
Chirac accurately diagnosed the problem the French rationale is suffering from; for many within the French society fear the Arab and armed immigration, as they fear Islam would become the second religion in France, following Catholicism.
Furthermore, the representatives of the French Islam failed in guiding the community to keep it in harmony with the values of the Republic. Indeed, the vast majority of these representatives is working for its own political interest, away from the field work to encourage the Muslims of France to integrate their in the French community.
Chirac also reminded the French of the values of equality, brotherhood and freedom. The echoes of his address were rather positive in the French political sphere and in the circles of the socialist party in the Opposition. However the crisis in the suburbs is deeper than to be solved via a presidential discourse characterized by determination, compassion and understanding of the social problems. His discourse was accurate, even thought late, yet, it will not change the French rationale that easily.
When Lopan competed against Chirac in the second round of the 2002 presidential elections, the deep racial problem in France emerged clearly. However, the French people woke up and achieved an unprecedented mobilization, voting massively for Chirac, to defeat Le Pen and stress its awareness about the necessity of combating racism and segregation. The two latter elements are quite destructive in a society where Muslims and Arabs total nearly 10 percent of its citizens.
Targeting the mosques with inflaming bottles are acts executed by those who are seeking to flare up the situation by adding oil on fire in the suburbs. The three-month state of emergency relieves the suburbans, yet, it does not solve the problem of marginalization, poverty, unemployment and racism which the entire French political elite was late in tackling in depth.
The social crack Chirac mentioned in his first presidential race in 1995, aggravated, leading to the recent dangerous events, which might recur if the problem is not solved deeply and on a daily basis.
Randa Takieddine Al-Hayat - 18/11/05//
18 days after the acts of violence and anarchy in the French suburbs, the French President Jacques Chirac delivered a speech, bearing an implicit message addressed to all the French circles: France will not be the republic the leader of the "French Nationalist Front" Jean-Marie Le Pen thrives for. France will never be the state that rejects French citizens of immigration descent; as it will not spur racism, partition and discrimination.
Chirac, through his speech, also sought to distinguish himself from the proposals of the Minister of Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, who is hoping to succeed Chirac in the presidency, even by attracting the far right-wing voters, which are numerous in France.
Despite the fact that Chirac was late in dealing with the crisis of the French suburbs, keeping silence for several days, though in his speech, he presented an accurate diagnosis of the reasons behind the acts of violence in the French suburbs. Indeed, President Chirac believed it was a "crisis of identity and belonging." He promised that France will respond, firmly and fairly, in compliance with the values of the Republic.
President Chirac also stressed the importance of changing the prevailing rationale in the French society, urging companies, associations and unions to mobilize in order to fight discrimination in the job market. President Chirac indicated for example that some companies are excluding job applications received by applicants with foreign names.
Chirac also declared the establishment of what he called "voluntary civil service" to train and guide more than 50,000 youngsters in the year 2007 to prevent them from being unemployed. He also rejected the negative discrimination Sarkozy suggested, stipulating to impose a "quota" on companies and administrations for employing youngsters from immigrant decent.
Chirac accurately diagnosed the problem the French rationale is suffering from; for many within the French society fear the Arab and armed immigration, as they fear Islam would become the second religion in France, following Catholicism.
Furthermore, the representatives of the French Islam failed in guiding the community to keep it in harmony with the values of the Republic. Indeed, the vast majority of these representatives is working for its own political interest, away from the field work to encourage the Muslims of France to integrate their in the French community.
Chirac also reminded the French of the values of equality, brotherhood and freedom. The echoes of his address were rather positive in the French political sphere and in the circles of the socialist party in the Opposition. However the crisis in the suburbs is deeper than to be solved via a presidential discourse characterized by determination, compassion and understanding of the social problems. His discourse was accurate, even thought late, yet, it will not change the French rationale that easily.
When Lopan competed against Chirac in the second round of the 2002 presidential elections, the deep racial problem in France emerged clearly. However, the French people woke up and achieved an unprecedented mobilization, voting massively for Chirac, to defeat Le Pen and stress its awareness about the necessity of combating racism and segregation. The two latter elements are quite destructive in a society where Muslims and Arabs total nearly 10 percent of its citizens.
Targeting the mosques with inflaming bottles are acts executed by those who are seeking to flare up the situation by adding oil on fire in the suburbs. The three-month state of emergency relieves the suburbans, yet, it does not solve the problem of marginalization, poverty, unemployment and racism which the entire French political elite was late in tackling in depth.
The social crack Chirac mentioned in his first presidential race in 1995, aggravated, leading to the recent dangerous events, which might recur if the problem is not solved deeply and on a daily basis.