Elections extravaganza

Today is the first of six debates that I have helped organize at Science Po about the upcoming French Presidential elections. The topic will be "The French Social Model...a Model?". For those of you not attending, I'll cut to the chase and just tell you that the answer is a resounding "No". But more specifically, myself and the 7 other students in my group will be launching the debate around 3 themes: meritocracy, gender equality and social uncertainty. That last one doesn't translate properly in english, but in french it's "inquietude sociale"...Did you know that almost 50% of french people are worried that they may one day end up homeless?

Our panel members include two politicians with very different stances on the issue, two experts who have studied at length the issue and a coordinator who is also an expert on the subject. The whole thing will be moderated by Ali Baddou who hosts a great radio programme each morning on RadioFrance. If all goes well, the politicians will start yelling at each other. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of elections, the Serbs go to the polls on the 21st. This is a huge deal in terms of what will happen next in the Balkans. Two days ago in class we discussed the upcoming decision on Kosovo's political status with a top expert from the International Crisis Group and a member of the Kosovar government. They both told us very frankly that they see little difference between the so-called moderate candidates and the nationalist candidates in Serbia. This is troubling, because when the UN Special Envoy to Kosovo releases his report at the end of this month, he will probably recommend that Kosovo become independent. The Serbs have repeatedly declared that they would categorically reject any proposals for an independent Kosovo. There is great potential for the powderkeg to ignite again and it will be interesting to see how the outcome of the Serbian elections influence the decisions that will be made in the next few months.