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
Role of France in the Rwandan genocide assistance the government of France gave the Rwandan government, similar to what France was doing in many other African countries and part of the "Françafrique" politics: Melvern attributes other forms of French support for the regime. She reports that, according to Belgian intelligence in Rwanda, French diplomats advised opposition politicians that if they wanted to stop the RPF, they had to give their support to President Habyarimana. A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) early after the genocide also reported on French armaments support for the regime. It states: HRW went on to provide that a former French policeman who