November 2007 strikes in France retire with full pension benefits after 37.5 years rather than 40 years. The Sarkozy administration claims the current pension system allows some public sector workers to retire as early as age 50. The government calculated the cost of these early-retirement benefits at $7 billion a year. President Nicolas Sarkozy felt that his victory in the 2007 presidential election gave him a mandate to carry out labour reforms, stating "I said before I was elected what I would do," and "we will do these reforms because they have to be done." He declared the strikes a test of political will. "I
President of France also the duty of abritrating the well-functioning of governmental authorities for efficient service, as the Head of State of France. Since 2002, the mandate of the President and the Assembly are both five years, and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a "cohabitation" is lower. Among the powers of the government: All decisions of the President must be countersigned by the Prime Minister, except dissolving the French National Assembly, choice of Prime Minister, dispositions of Article 19. The constitutional attributions of the president are defined in Title II of the Constitution of France. Article