Presidential rivalry spills into French jobs law row

FRANCE’S powerful interior minister yesterday distanced himself from prime minister Dominique de Villepin over a controversial jobs law that last weekend brought 1.5 million protesters nationwide onto the streets.

Nicolas Sarkozy ruled out quitting, but his remarks are a clear sign of the deepening rift in France’s ruling right.

In an interview, Mr Sarkozy called for a six-month trial period for the CPE first job contract, which allows employers to fire people under 26 without giving a reason, over the course of a two-year trial period.

The CPE is one of the biggest crises of Mr Villepin’s 10-month-old administration, and has seen the prime minister’s popularity ratings slump in past few weeks.

It has also highlighted the presidential rivalries between Mr Sarkozy and Mr Villepin.

Commentators have suggested that Mr Sarkozy might even leave the government in an effort to prevent his chances in the 2007 presidential elections being damaged by fall-out from the CPE row.

“I am showing solidarity while being different,” Mr Sarkozy told the Paris Match weekly, “I have no intention of displaying that difference more when things are not going well.”

Mr Sarkozy said he would not resign over the issue, adding, “One does not leave a government for opportunist reasons.”

Trade unions have called for a national strike next Tuesday in protest at the new law.