Word: reformist
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...terms of both the scope and results of reform, and I want him to continue pushing it ahead," says Eric Platel, a Paris-area IT consultant who voted for Sarkozy. With more than four years remaining in his five-year mandate, Sarkozy's best chance is to renew his reformist push, wait for its benefits to blossom, and ride back up the polls...
...Human Rights Watch says the government is undermining its reformist agenda by resorting to heavyhanded tactics of past regimes. "In its popular public campaign against corruption and abuse of political power, the government has routinely used torture to extract confessions or to gain information," the report says. "Torture has also been used to punish and intimidate peaceful critics of the government and army's role as the de facto rulers of the country." TIME could not reach the government spokesman for a comment, but officials have in the past downplayed allegations of abuse and said that anyone found guilty...
...leaders to accept a transition away from the “Japanese model” of corporatism and state subsidies. The mere suggestion of changes in the famously cozy French employment laws sparked massive protests by literally millions of students. And in Germany, even the election of reformist opposition leader Angela Merkel failed to change much as the parliamentary elite forced a coalition to stall transformation...
Sarkozy's record of total involvement in running French affairs - and the critical importance that victory in the current conflict is to his wider reformist and presidential regime - leave no doubt the President will eventually wade in with his usual high profile. But some observers believe that inevitability is why Sarkozy has opted for the strategically unexpected furtive approach. "He's made the non-negotiable essentials of this reform clear to everyone, so now he's probably letting unions and government officials lock horns until he sees the opportunity to step in and break the loggerheads with mutually acceptable compromise...
Though historically sympathetic to strike movements, most French voters firmly back Sarkozy in this clash with unions. After all, he was elected on an overt promise of sweeping change, giving him greater reformist legitimacy than his more cautious predecessors. Despite the disruption that the recent strikes have caused - and the prospect that they will drag on - polls show Sarkozy holding steady with a 55% approval rating. Yet a further test of will comes on Nov. 20, when hundreds of thousands of state employees are scheduled to protest over 22,000 public-sector job cuts slated for 2008. And more antireform...