President Chirac decided that the Whit Monday holiday should be abolished in France. It has back-fired somewhat as the French ignore his decree give him a resounding allez -vous -en and take the day off anyway today.
THE collapse of President Chirac’s authority will be exposed today when most French people blithely ignore his decision to make Whit Monday a normal working day.
Although the Bank Holiday has been abolished officially, even state employees are refusing to work. Schools, post offices and museums will close for the day and the state railway network will be offering a reduced service.
As if to underline M Chirac’s declining power, his ministers have been unable to impose the reform on their own ministries, which are also stopping work. In the private sector nearly half of French businesses will be on holiday, while the rest will remain open.
That the government cannot even impose its will on its own departments compounds the embarrassment for Chirac. Now here is an object lesson in politics. Politicians govern by the sufferance and agreement of those being governed. They work for the people, not the other way around. The significant difference between the French and the British is that the French have not forgotten this important principle.
Road haulage groups are particularly aggrieved. The Finance Ministry has told them to operate as usual, while the Transport Ministry has implemented Bank Holiday road safety measures, which involve the banning of lorries.
Only in France…
Mind you, given that most of France doesn’t do Mondays anyway, I’m wondering how they noticed the difference this morning…