Chirac Admits Riots Reveal French Malaise

[callady]

Chirac admits riots reveal French malaise

· Irresponsible parents told they will be punished
· State of emergency to be extended by three months

Jon Henley in Paris
Tuesday November 15, 2005
The Guardian


Jacques Chirac acknowledged last night that France's 18 nights of urban violence had revealed a "profound malaise" in society and launched an appeal to combat the "poison" of racial discrimination.

In his first formal address to the nation since the unrest started on October 27, the French president said the problem had to be tackled firmly but justly. "Those who attack ... must know that in a republic, one cannot break the law without being caught, judged and punished," he said.

Mr Chirac said the rioting reflected a "crisis of ... identity", but added that "we can accomplish nothing if we do not respect the rules". Parental authority was critical, and parents who did not "accept their responsibilities" would be punished. The president confirmed that the government would today put a bill before parliament recommending that the state of emergency be extended for three months until mid-February if necessary.

Everyone should have the chance to share in the benefits of French society, Mr Chirac said, but "discrimination saps the foundations of the republic". The French media and political class must "better reflect the reality of French society today", he insisted. At present, the ethnic minority faces on French television can be counted on the fingers of one hand and mainland France has not a single MP of north African or black African origin.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1642789,00.html

[anotherdrew]

1. I've been critical of france, but can you imagine how bush would have done

There would be at least a couple hundred dead and tens of thousands in jail, and martial-law nation-wide.

[LiberalVoice]

2. "we can accomplish nothing if we do not respect the rules"

Hate to break it to ya Jaque but thats just not how it works.

[PATRICK]

3. Usually a prime cause of malaise

is the miasma of a dominant conservative government, injustice, curtailment of liberties and economic or political frustration. That's like someone saying saying your problem is a headache while they are pounding on your skull with a rock. When the leftist students took to the streets forty years ago or so against the entrenched Gaullists who froze out socialists and socialism it seemed pretty futile, but the pols bent a bit and- very slowly- things turned leftwards.

It is like a lake of democracy turning over periodically, getting murky at first and then clearing up. But very messy and slow.

[smirkymonkey]

4. I just spoke with a friend in Paris.

I asked her what people were saying about the riots. She said nobody was even talking about it, instead they were more concerned with the flu that's been going around.

[fshrink]

5. Takes riots to get to that minimal level.

By "minimal" I mean dropping the religious crap and ackowledging inequalities.

[robcon]

6. Do you mean "inequalities" of reaction to unemployment?

Most people who are unemployed or marginalized try to change their circumstances. They do not torch thousands of their fellow-sufferers' vehicles.

[fshrink]

7. How does the water running down

the mountain "changes (its) circumstances"?

[triguy46]

8. EEK!!! Not MALAISE!!!

That's the word that got Jimmy the spot on the fast stage out of town!!