Governing grows harder

For the first time well-organised students and schoolchildren have taken part in the French demonstrations against the planned rise in the retirement age. That makes things even more awkward for President Nicolas Sarkozy and any possible successor, writes the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Until now all attempts by the government to drive a wedge between moderate and radical unions in order to divide the resistance have failed. In part this may be because the hard line in domestic security with which Sarkozy wanted to impress his core voters has cemented the Left ideologically. But although this Left is now gloating over the difficulties encountered by the Right, its most powerful force, the Socialist Party, will not be all that delighted. As opposed to the Trotskyists and the Communists whose political agenda goes no further than protest actions, the Socialists must attend to their ability to govern. Should a leftist president be elected in 2012 he would face the same problems that Sarkozy is struggling with today."

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