The revolt is Uranian...
when the logistics go down you have had it.
Rail strike tests new French PM Villepin
By Jon Boyle
PARIS (Reuters) - New French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin put the finishing touches on Thursday to a government meant to restore voter confidence, as striking rail workers wreaked transport havoc across the country.
Villepin, named prime minister on Tuesday after French voters' thumping rejection of the EU constitution, held fresh talks with President Jacques Chirac on Thursday on his cabinet line-up, which could be named later in the day or on Friday.
He will outline his policies on June 8 in the National Assembly lower house of parliament, said aides. The debate is normally followed by a confidence vote.
Unions from the state rail company SNCF meanwhile pursued a 36-hour strike they began late on Wednesday over pay and jobs, severely disrupting mainline and regional rail traffic. The cross-channel Eurostar link was unaffected.
The action illustrated the size of the task facing Villepin, a close ally of Chirac's.
Polls show voters rejected the EU charter in the referendum largely because of anger over a jobless rate of 10.2 percent, a 5-year high. Official figures on Tuesday showed households' confidence in the future was at its lowest level since at least February 2003.
A CSA survey in Thursday's Le Parisien newspaper showed 53 percent of voters did not believe Villepin would cut jobless queues despite promising to do so in his first television interview since his nomination.
"The fight for jobs is going to be the priority of this government and I will lead it personally," Villepin said on TF1. He has given himself 100 days to restore voters' morale but some commentators are already skeptical.
"The generalities delivered by Dominique de Villepin with a smile on his lips last night seemed very empty," the left-leaning daily Liberation commented. "The prime minister contented himself with vague promises, without giving any details of the policy he intends to conduct."
An Ipsos poll for the Le Monde newspaper and France 2 television suggested the new prime minister's honeymoon was over even before it had started: 40 percent of those questioned disapproved of his appointment while 36 percent supported it.
LOW-INTENSITY CONFLICT
The CSA poll showed a majority of voters believed Chirac had failed to understand the message they had sent him on Sunday by rejecting the EU charter, although 58 percent approved Villepin's appointment.
Slightly more, 59 percent, supported the restoration to government of Nicolas Sarkozy, the ebullient head of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party who is a bitter rival of Chirac for presidential elections in 2007.
The return of Sarkozy -- the opposition portray him as "Prime Minister No. 2" -- surprised many, given his frequent policy clashes with Villepin. Last week he pointedly sniped at the aristocrat's failure to ever stand for election.
Chirac appears to have recalled Sarkozy to harness his voter appeal and ensure the government and ruling party remain united with just two years to go to general elections.
"I'm not joining to make Jacques Chirac happy. I prefer a low-intensity conflict on the inside than a bloody battle on the outside," the daily Le Figaro quoted Sarkozy as telling UMP deputies to applause at a meeting on Wednesday.
Political sources said Michel Barnier was likely to pay the price of the EU charter defeat and be replaced as foreign minister, possibly by Philippe Douste-Blazy, until now health minister.
Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Finance Minister Thierry Breton were expected to retain their posts, although Alliot-Marie could move to the foreign ministry.
Budget Minister Jean-Francois Cope and Labour Minister Jean-Louis Borloo were expected to stay on.
strictly business only ;-)
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5837976&cKey=1117714831000
Reuters
