A battle between two of the vainest men in France guarantees that the country will be all but ungovernable for the next year, and stall EU plans for economic reform, writes European editor Nicholas Watt.
Up to a million students, who took to the streets yesterday, are on a roll thanks in part to Dominique de Villepin, the prime minister, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, whose personal rivalry is helping to paralyse the government.
Both men have set their hearts on securing the Elysee Palace which is up for grabs in next year's French presidential election. Jacques Chirac, the incumbent, is unlikely to stand again because only around 1-2% of the French people want the septuagenarian to run for a third term.
The rivalry between Mr Villepin, an aristocratic admirer of Napoleon who writes poetry in his spare time, and Mr Sarkozy, a pugilistic figure who works his way through women with typical Gallic energy, set the scene for yesterday's demonstrations.
Mr Villepin, appointed prime minister by Mr Chirac after French voters rejected the EU constitution last year, is determined to show he will reform France's hidebound economy which is weakened by an unemployment rate of 9.5%.
Taunted by supporters of the arch-reformer Mr Sarkozy for being an aristocratic dilettante, Mr Villepin is trying to ram through a controversial law which is designed to tackle France's chronically high youth unemployment rate of 23%.
Known as the "first employment contract", this is designed to encourage employers to hire young people by allowing them to fire anyone under the age of 26 with no notice during their first two years of work.
Mr Villepin's failure to allow for a proper parliamentary debate - and his initial refusal to consult students and unions - handed a propaganda victory to opponents who quickly mobilised on the streets. With memories of how past French governments have been humiliated by street protests, Mr Villepin offered to hold talks but was rebuffed last week by student leaders.
As the cabinet's greatest advocate of reform, Mr Sarkozy might have been expected to support Mr Villepin. But sensing that his rival is in trouble, Mr Sarkozy has called for the law to be suspended to allow for talks.
Weeks after deriding the Villepin reforms for not going far enough - some dub them "Sarko-lite" - Mr Sarkozy is now offering a degree of sympathy for student protestors as he exploits his rival's difficulties. Mr Sarkozy, who captured the leadership of Chirac's UMP party last year, now hopes the way will be clear for him to secure the party's presidential nomination next January.
With a lame duck president and the government's two biggest figures consumed by a bitter rivalry, France is unlikely to be achieve radical reforms until the elections are out of the way in just over a year's time.
The opposition Socialists can barely believe their luck and European leaders will simply have to wait until France finds a new leader before they can tackle the labour market reforms which are meant to be the EU's top priority.
