Hollande Hires Banlieue Youths to Clean Elysee Palace With Karcher
In a move rife with symbolism newly elected French president FranÃ§ois Hollande has hired eight underprivilegedÂ youths from one of France's poorest neighborhoodsÂ to help clean up the ElyseeÂ presidentialÂ palaceÂ recently vacated by hisÂ predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. The ad-hoc cleaning crew from the troubled Paris suburb of Clichy-Sous-BoisÂ will spend two months powerwashing the palace's walls, floors, and corridors withÂ Karcher brand electric high-pressure water cleaners to remove unsightly levels of mold, rust, and calcified decay which had built up during the Sarkozy presidency.Â  "We thought it was important to send a positive signal to young unemployed minorities." Although such maintance work is usually performed by the palace'sÂ permanentÂ staff, Hollande personally decided to hire the new team to signal a break with Sarkozy's populist anti-immigrant policies. "We thought it was important to send a positive signal to young unemployed minorities," says Hollande's chief -of-staffÂ Pierre-Rene Lemas, "We will not marginalize or exclude you. We are one nation." Alhtough Sarkozy's government included record numbers of minority cabinet ministers, his campaign sometimesÂ incorporatedÂ dog-whistle racist language in a bid to attract support from the far-right Le Pen political movement. Sarkozy most famously promised to "clean France's banlieuesÂ with a Karcher"Â - which many found to be a subliminalÂ euphemismÂ for washing away the nation's immigrants. After the team is finished with the palace, they will then be hired intoÂ permanentÂ positions cleaning Paris's most famous cultural monuments. For 22 year oldÂ Tariq ibn ZiyadÂ the Elysee gig will be his first paying job. His only comment: "I can't wait." Â