Sarkozy victory as reforms are approved France's parliament on Monday approved by the narrowest possible margin one of the most significant packages of institutional reforms since the Fifth Republic was founded by General Charles de Gaulle in 1958. In a knife-edge vote in an extraordinary parliamentary session at Versailles, the necessary 60 per cent of France's senators and parliamentary deputies backed the controversial reforms intended to rebalance the executive and legislative branches of power. The vote is an important victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had promised during last year's election campaign to update the country's constitution. The opposition Socialist party, as well as some members of Mr Sarkozy's own centre-right UMP party, had fiercely resisted the bill, arguing it did not go far enough. Mr Sarkozy, who had reportedly lobbied wavering parliamentarians by phone while on holiday, hailed the result as a triumph for the forces of movement over those of stagnation.
France's parliament on Monday approved by the narrowest possible margin one of the most significant packages of institutional reforms since the Fifth Republic was founded by General Charles de Gaulle in 1958.
In a knife-edge vote in an extraordinary parliamentary session at Versailles, the necessary 60 per cent of France's senators and parliamentary deputies backed the controversial reforms intended to rebalance the executive and legislative branches of power.
The vote is an important victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had promised during last year's election campaign to update the country's constitution. The opposition Socialist party, as well as some members of Mr Sarkozy's own centre-right UMP party, had fiercely resisted the bill, arguing it did not go far enough.
Mr Sarkozy, who had reportedly lobbied wavering parliamentarians by phone while on holiday, hailed the result as a triumph for the forces of movement over those of stagnation.
And the narrative is thus fed. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
