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Does France need a V1 ème République?


NormanH
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Leaving aside the scandals and dirty tricks under both the present and last President it seems to me that the present system is no longer fit for purpose.

It was strong-armed in by De Gaulle during the Algerian crisis and designed for him as President to have strong powers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic

It is no secret that I  would prefer a left leaning government to a right wing one, but it seems to me that now Hollande has no legitimacy (I saw a poll today which showed that 82% want him to resign) and the new government is likely to be paralysed by the refusal of its own left-wing to vote in measures.

Yet the President can't be removed and it is unlikely though not impossible that he would dissolve the Assemblée given the probable results of any election called now, which adds to the lack of credibility

Given tensions on the world stage, difficulties in Europe and the urgent need to get the economy moving doesn't France need an deserve a system that reflects more closely and more rapidly the view of its citizens?

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I have a friend who says he wants a new republic and he is not alone but then he 'leans to the right' quite a bit.

The problem is the French version of socialism does not seem to work. Everyone wants a cut of the cake but the cake was scoffed ages ago and there is nothing left. France is now living on borrowed time with work practices that are still stuck in the middle of the 20th century.

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Trying to guess what the result in 2017 will be is the same as trying to predict the lottery numbers so I would not get too excited Norman.

Personally I cannot see Le Pen ever being president although her party will do well. I noticed that recently in the 'popularity poll' that Hollande only went up when Sarkozy said he might run again, it soon however went back down again. Problem with French politics is it has become the 'same old, same old' like the UK and it is not attracting young people both into politics and to vote. One thing for sure is with 57% of the working population being paid from the taxes raised on the other 43% is not long before France has some real problems with debt spiraling out of control.

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[quote user="idun"] Yes, I think that it would be a good idea, a complete overhaul. Someone needs to do something![/quote]

Very true. But I doubt anyone will and have the mandate for the change and to make it permanent. France really is very U-Turns 'r' Us.

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I have seen radical change in France. Mitterand did it, in fact he made what les anglais subsequently called 'cheap France'. It was not cheap when we arrived. Minimum wage far exceeded 'normal' wages in the UK, and initially monthly pay was going up every single month.

Tonton stopped it all. Pay rises stopped and eventually were minimal, 0.5% was good, when my brother was moaning about the mean 6% they had been offered! And prices more or less froze and crept up very very gradually until the €.

All that, believe me was 'radical'. France can do it, the politicians can do it, just takes someone ballsy enough to do it. And remember Mitterand did not always have a socialist parliament, eg Chirac was his PM.

A V1's republic, perhaps, just SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!

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Well, the present incumbent will not change things much as he believes that all will come good in the end if you plant early and look after the seedlings.

We must remember that France is not a parliamentary democracy but a presidential one which means that all power is concentrated, ultimately, in the hands of the all powerful president. This was created by De Gaulle after the country nearly fell into civil war at the time of the Algerian troubles.

What this effectively means is that parliament is a talking shop and not the ultimate initiator of policy.

At the moment, the Left of the Left want to change the direction of policy but Hollande aint playing, so they wanna get rid of him or restrict his powers. Unfortunately their group is just about strong enough to deny Hollande a majority, so they are feeling that their moment has come.

This system has given France a degree of stability for the last fifty or so years but it does create little tinpot dictators who do not always use their power scrupulously.

If the parliament was given power, then I think France would dissolve into a pack of fighting dogs and would be even worse off. However, if and when the crisis is over, then sensible debate might be undertaken, but change can only come about in the context of other major changes, such as serious decentralization, even federation, as a balance, IMHO, rather closer to the German model.
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