Sarkozy goes prime-time after mass protests
Posted: 05 February 2009 1050 hrs
People protest in the streets of the French eastern city of Lyon against President Nicolas Sarkozy.
PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to take to the airwaves Thursday in a bid to take the steam out of mounting public anger over layoffs and his strategy to battle the global downturn.
One week after more than a million strikers took to the streets in protest, Sarkozy will defend his government's actions during a 90-minute prime-time interview called "In the Face of Crisis".
More than 200,000 people lost their jobs in France last year, and Sarkozy is facing calls to beef up a 26-billion-euro (US$33-billion) stimulus package with measures to help household spending.
Polls show 62 per cent of the French feel Sarkozy's right-wing government isn't doing enough to tackle the economic downturn as France heads into its first recession since 1993.
French union leaders who organised the massive show of force a week ago, said they will be listening carefully to Sarkozy's answers before deciding on more protests and strikes.
Dubbed "Black Thursday", a quarter of France's public sector workers downed tools to protest Sarkozy's handling of the economic crisis and the cost-cutting reforms that he has spearheaded since his election in May 2007.
Despite the biggest protests of his presidency, Sarkozy has defended his plan to revive the economy with massive investment in public works and measures to shore up hard-hit businesses, on top of multi-billion-euro bank bailouts.
Presidential aides said Sarkozy would seek to respond to French worries about the economy, but make clear he is not prepared to mothball reforms that were at the heart of his election campaign nearly two years ago.
"He is going to say 'I am going to continue reforms' and show he is still the captain at the wheel, but at the same time he needs to offer reassurances to some categories of workers unhappy with reforms," said Gael Slimane, director of the BVA polling firm.
A BVA poll published this week showed 57 per cent of the French would be ready to support more protest action similar to Black Thursday.
While strikes are not unusual in France, there is a fear that they could snowball into wider protests that would weaken Sarkozy's government.
Union leaders are set to meet on Monday to decide on future action and on Tuesday, students are planning nationwide protests against university reform and job cuts in education.
"What we expect from this government is that it stops being so rigid," said Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT, one of France's two biggest unions.
"If the president sticks to this inflexibility, inevitably there will be a conflict that will broaden and we will not find a solution."
Sarkozy won election in May 2007 on a platform of sweeping reforms, promising growth and vowing to bring down unemployment to five per cent by the end of his term in 2012.
But the banking crisis that has dragged down economies worldwide has left him battling to prevent a return to the double-digit unemployment that dogged France for decades.
The European Commission predicts unemployment will hit 9.8 per cent by the end of this year and 10.6 per cent in 2010.
The opposition Socialists last week presented a non-confidence vote in parliament against the government, saying its stimulus plan had failed to yield results, but it failed to garner enough support.
"The president must be able to say 'I am changing my policies'," said Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry.
The interview will air live from 8:15 pm (1915 GMT) on three French television stations and on RTL radio.
