"If insults exchanged among partners of a majority reflected the state of a coalition, the Polish government would have already fallen", considers the journalist Jurek Kuczkiewicz. "And yet, while the partners of the Polish coalition -the Kaczynski twins' PiS [Law and Justice Party], Self Defence, the popular peasant party, and the far-right League of Families- are virtually spitting in one another's faces all day long, few still believe in the likelihood of a rupture in the coalition. The three parties, not doing well in the polls, fear the elections like the plague, Self Defence and the League may even fail to survive the elections. ... The shrewdest commentary has come from Lech Wałęsa, who was a dismal president [between 1990 and 1995] but is capable of the best political one-liners: 'Even with a tractor, it is impossible to tear these people away from power.'" (07/08/2007)

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"After months of mud-slinging, Poland's ruling parties are blaming each other for the breakdown of the coalition," Helmar Dumbs writes. "Anyone who finds the bickering of the Viennese coalition amusing should take a look at Poland: for months now the alliance of Kaczynski's PiS, a right-wing extremist (Roman Giertych) and a boxer who has done time (Lepper) has been giving a spectacular mud-slinging performance. And whenever the focus has shifted to foreign policy it was often owing to proposals like that of striking Goethe from the required reading list for senior classes. Thanks to this government, Poland's credibility has reached rock bottom. If the situation wasn't so serious we would nominate the entire troupe for a theatre prize, the play in question being 'It's the Other Side's Fault.' Thanks to its miserable performance, polls indicate the coalition has no chance of a rerun. And that's no mean achievement considering Poland's excellent economic statistics." (07/08/2007)

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Piotr Semka examines the political calculations behind the current government crisis. Why, he asks, didn't Samoobrona leader Andrzej Lepper break up the government coalition directly after his dismissal as Minister of Agriculture? "On the one hand it could be that Lepper doesn't want to burn down the last bridge to a coalition with the PiS. On the other hand, he could be hoping Jarosław Kaczynski will relieve all Samoobrona ministers of their office. Then Lepper could accuse the Prime Minister of having ended the coalition and present himself in the ensuing election campaign as someone who tried hard but fell victim to the PiS leaders. So does this mean we're any closer to new elections? That depends on how many Samoobrona parliamentarians the PiS can woo away from the Lepper faction." (06/08/2007)

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The national conservative "Law and Justice (PiS) party has plunged Poland's young democracy into its worst crisis yet, Gabriele Lesser concludes. "Why the PiS didn't keep its campaign pledge and form a coalition with the Civic Platform (PO) remains a mystery. At any rate, the coalition with the radicals was certainly a mistake. Instead of having a civilising influence on the League of Polish Families (LPR) and the populist left-wing Farmers' Party Samoobrona, the PiS has coarsened and become a threat to the establishment of a constitutional state in Poland... Poland's young democracy still has sufficient self-healing powers, but if the PiS wins the next elections again it will be a disaster." (07/08/2007)

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The Spanish justice has filed a lawsuit against the satirical magazine 'El Jueves' because of a caricature of the Rotal family it considers slanderous. For the Spanish writer and journalist José Manuel Fajardo, "a society that can't laugh at it's elite, that is incapable of  dealing with humour in its most basic form, with all of its grotesque indecency, is a repressed society ... This is  about having the right to laugh at the monarchy. There are journalists and illustrators who are running the risk of being imprisoned for jesting with the Spanish crown. ... The problem is that the protection of the Spanish monarchy befalls the penal code rather than being covered by civil jurisdiction which fines instead of imprisoning. The honour of our monarchs is not defended in the same way as that of other citizens, with compensation, but rather with repressive procedures." (07/08/2007)

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All available articles from » José Manuel Fajardo

The Turkish-born German writer Zafer Senocak analyses the role of culture in Turkish-Muslim society, which is going through a time of great upheaval. "Ultimately the closed society can only be broken open by a culture of individualisation. Such a culture challenges and transforms the community. Sooner or later this transformation finds its expression in art. Turkish novels and Turkish films are the places where the modernisation of Turkish society should manifest itself. The point is not to write a 'Muslim' novel. That would be as futile as all the other attempts to create art in the name of a religion or an ideology. Nonetheless, the psychological topography of people who are exposed to social and cultural transformation is an important subject. In a post-Muslim society, for instance, spirituality doesn't yet have an original voice." (07/08/2007)

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More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Philosophy, » Weltanschauung, » Turkey
All available articles from » Zafer Senocak

Anders Flodström, director of the Swedish University Authority, has proposed to cut the number of Swedish colleges and universities from 14 to five. The newspaper approves of this idea, saying it would give leading universities a boost. "Since the crisis of the 1990s, Sweden's education policy has been governed by the social democratic vision according to which as many people as possible should go to university. Today over 50% of those who have done their school-leaving certificate go to university... The 'information society' was expected to create new jobs so the education policy resembled a huge labour policy scheme." Flodström points out that many new universities were founded and "the inevitable consequence was decreasing standards in Sweden's higher education and growing dissatisfaction among students. ... Flodström's proposals for education and research focus above all on improving quality." (07/08/2007)

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"But where do these terrorists come from?" exclaims the journalist and legal practioner Afshin Ellian. This week-end, three anonymous people violently assaulted Ehsan Jami, member of the labour party (PvdA) and cofounder of the Dutch 'Central Council of Former Muslims'. "This is the third time Ehsan Jami has been assaulted by young Muslims. How come he is such easy prey for these Muslim Brutes? Because he benefits from absolutely no protective measure. In addition, we now know that his phone number and address are being circulated on an Islamist website. ... How fast we forget! Was Theo van Gogh, the film-maker, not killed here, in the Netherlands? ... What can be said in such a situation? What explanation can I give a young 22 year old who grew up in a European country? Should I say welcome to Gaza, Tehran, Cairo, where those unfortunate enough to think differently are killed in broad daylight, and for whom the state doesn't lift a finger?" (07/08/2007)

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Gavin Gulia, Maltese shadow Minister for the Interior, deplores the lack of burden sharing when dealing with illegal immigrants in the EU. "Although it is being reported that the European Union has become more aware of the plight being shared by small member states at the southern borders of the EU, so far there have been more expressions of concern from European politicians with clout than a real commitment on the need for shared responsibilities. ... The EU has been baking anti-detention policies and reception-friendly regulations like hot cheese cakes, leaving responsibility-sharing policies on the backburner and in the process penalising further small receiving countries, like Malta, Lampedusa and the Canary Islands. Both the Canaries and Lampedusa have the support of Spain and Italy on the mainland, an advantage not enjoyed by Malta, which is a sovereign state with very limited territory." (06/08/2007)

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On August 2nd, the French Parliament adopted a bill on the organisation of a minimal service in the case of a strike. The text obliges employees to declare their participation in industrial action 48 hours in advance and allows personnel to be consulted via an anonymous vote as to the development of action after eight days. The weekly doubts the efficiency of these measures, which are defended by the new French president. "A real minimal service would imply a guaranteed service and thus the requisitioning of personnel like in hospitals. ... That is only a small step away from saying that minimal service is little more than a decoy, a step that many are happily taking.  ...  In other words, save requisitioning, there is little chance Nicolas Sarkozy's promises will be kept, despite all sorts of declarations." (02/08/2007)

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Jonathan Littell, interviewed by Mathieu Lindon, responds to the death of Raul Hilberg, the great historian of the Shoah, who passed away on August 4th. Littell, author of 'Les Bienveillantes', the fictional confession of an SS officer, made extensive use of  'The Destruction of the European Jews', Raul Hilberg's major work. "It is almost a dictionary. It was of permanent use to me. I continually referred to it for everything to do with the bureaucratic structures, the organisation charts, when seeking a detail on the unfolding of certain sequences. ... [Hilberg] is the incontrovertible expert on the Shoah. He was the first to conceptualise it, to apply an almost structuralist approach to it. His focus on the Shoah was specific, he showed how German bureaucracy played a fully fledged role in it ... . Everything that has followed uses and refers to his text. The English version is also beautifully written, which is rare for a historian." (07/08/2007)

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All available articles from » Mathieu Lindon, » Jonathan Littell

On Monday, August 6th, the national Italian agency for civil aviation (ENAC)  launched an inquiry into Rome's Fiumicino airport, in order to find why there has been so much chaos in the baggage halls these past few days. "You may well be terrified when landing, for the most onerous part of journey is about to begin", quips Gabriele Romagnoli. "When you travel in the north of Europe, or in Asia, the delivery of baggage is as punctual as a train time table. If something goes wrong, someone is sacked, or else does a hara-kiri for the dishonour. ... Here, on home turf, it is different. There is a growing feeling of shared resignation and general negligence. Year after year, delays and abuse fuel the infernal circle faced by passengers. Fiumicino is the first thing you see when arriving in Italy. It bares a close resemblance to the rest of the country." (07/08/2007)

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Sorin Ionita no longer likes his home city, Bucharest. He says the property developers have built trash and the politicians don't keep their promises. "When did we, the residents of this city, vote to turn it into a Pakistani version of Las Vegas? Because that's what it looks like when you drive down the city's main boulevards at night. I can't remember voting for this. On the contrary: I remember that three years ago there was talk of building underground car parks to create more space and pedestrian zones with tables and chairs and flowers and trees and cycle paths - all the things that you find in cities west of Szeged." (07/08/2007)

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Holidaying in the United States, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, attacked two paparazzi photographers on August 5th. "What ever possessed Nicolas Sarkozy to jump aboard a boat of photographers and arraign them vehemently for daring to photograph him swimming around a lake in New Hampshire? His behaviour belongs more to Rambo than to a president. ... The French appear to be seduced by politically incorrect methods that defy all expectations. Spending his holidays in the land of McDonalds, accosting a boat full of reporters and soon to shake George Bush's hand. Sarkozy is a sort of new wave rebel who is finally getting the United States to take notice of France." (07/08/2007)

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All available articles from » Pierre Ruetschi