May 2 Will be a Public Holiday in Belgium Next Year

Sources: RTL Infos, Kanaal Z and Belgium Public Holidays. After asking for the advice of the CNT (Conseil National du Travail), on how to handle the fact that, in 2008, the May Day public holiday and the Ascension public holiday, both public holidays in Belgium, will fall on the same date (our post of April 23), Minister of Labor, Peter Vanvelthoven, decided to ignore the CNT's advice of declaring a public holiday on Sunday, August 10, 2008, and instead chose to declare the day after the "double-holiday", Friday, May 2, 2008, as a one-off public holiday.

Many South Africans Likely to Be Off On April 30 to Enjoy a 5-Day Weekend

Sources: South Africa Public Holidays and private communications from contacts in South Africa. With the upcoming public holidays of Freedom Day, on Friday, April 27, 2007, and May Day, on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, many South African employees and government workers are expected to take the day off on Monday, April 30, 2007, to enjoy the last long weekend before austral winter (recall that seasons in South Africa are the opposite of those in the northern hemisphere).

Date of Thailand's 2007 Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Sources: Bangkok Post and Thailand Public Holidays. The date of this year's Royal Ploughing Ceremony will be Thursday, May 10, 2007. This civil servants' public holiday, which celebrates the beginning of the rice planting season shall, as usual, be held under Royal patronage in Bangkok.

Analysis: This is an ancient Brahman ceremony, usually held in the first half of May, whose is selected by Brahmin Priests according to their astrological calendars. Out of the 3800+ public holidays, in 240 countries, that our predictive rules database covers, this public holiday, and the Umhlanga, or Reed Dance, Ceremony of Swaziland, are the only 2 whose long-term prediction always causes us headaches. If anyone has any reliable tips or information about the manner in which the date of this public holiday is arrived at, please contact us.

Russia Declares National Day of Mourning for Former President Boris Yeltsin on April 25

Sources: RIA Novosti and Russia Public Holidays. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared Wednesday, April 25, 2007, a National Day of Mourning for former President Boris Yeltsin, who died today at age 76, and will be buried at the Novodevichye Cemetery, on April 25.

Analysis: So far, apart from President Putin moving his annual state of the nation address to the Federal Assembly from Wednesday to Thursday, no special observance has been announced that would interfere with the day proceeding as a regular working day.

Hong Kong Likely to Replace One Easter Public Holiday With Confucius' Birthday

Sources: Asia News and Hong Kong Public Holidays. The Chinese deputy director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, Qi Xiaofei, indicated yesterday, for the first time, that Beijing was in support of replacing one of Hong Kong's 3 Easter-related public holidays (Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday) with a public holiday to mark Confucius' birthday.

Analysis: As set out last year by Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, the proposed change would hinge upon the acceptance by Christian religious groups, of the removal of one of the current Christian holidays. However, already contacted on the matter, both Catholic and Protestant groups have said that they were not opposed to it.

Since Easter 2007 has already passed, it is unlikely that a public holiday for Confucius' birthday would be celebrated in 2007, making it more likely that the holiday would first be observed as an official public holiday in Hong Kong, on Friday, September 26, 2008.

As to which Easter public holiday would be removed, there are no indications. As Holy Saturday is sandwiched between 2 other public holidays, it would not make much sense to cancel it. Therefore the choice is between Good Friday and Easter Monday. If we had to guess, we would venture that it would be Easter Monday that would be cancelled, bringing Hong Kong's Easter-related public holidays in line with those of Macau and, most importantly, with most of its financial and trading partners such as Singapore, and to a lesser extent, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

Belgium Considers Declaring a One-Off Sunday Public Holiday in 2008

Sources: RTL Infos, RTBF, CNT and Belgium Public Holidays (see also our follow-up post of April 24). In a yet to be confirmed, measure, Belgium's Minister of Labor, Peter Vanvelthoven, following consultations with the CNT (Conseil National du Travail), is considering declaring a one-off public holiday in Belgium, on Sunday, August 10, 2008, to compensate for the fact that, in 2008, the May Day public holiday and the Ascension public holiday, both public holidays in Belgium, will fall on the same date, something that has not happened since 1913, and will not happen again until 2160.

Analysis: By law, Belgium's workers are entitled to 10 public holidays a year, which makes a search for a replacement public holiday in 2008, eminently reasonable. The choice of a Sunday as replacement date, however, does puzzle. Reading the original text of the "Avis du Conseil National du Travail", it would seem that the choice of a Sunday was made so that branches that benefit from special treatment concerning public holiday that fall on a weekend, could negotiate a special arrangement concerning this Sunday holiday, without running the risk that they would ask for 2 compensation holidays, based on the premise that otherwise their status on this matter would not be special anymore, compared to ordinary workers who, in Belgium, have to forfeit any public holiday that falls on a weekend.

Apparently the announcement of this recommendation has angered other members of Parliament, some of whom have been pushing for the 3 community public holidays (July 11, September 27 and December 15) to become full national public holidays, some of whom have been pushing for International Women's Day (March 8), while some others have been lobbying for May 8 (the end of World War 2 in Europe), and yet others for Europe Day, on May 9.

We will continue to follow-up on this story and post an announcement when the date is either confirmed, or another one is announced.

Renewed Calls to Make Saint George's Day a Public Holiday in England

Sources: Daily Express and England Public Holidays. With the name day of Saint George upon us again, calls have grown to make April 23 a public holiday in England. it has been reported that nearly a million people have signed an on-line petition supporting a proposed Parliamentary Bill calling for a public holiday on Saint George's Day.

Analysis: The arguments from the proponents of making Saint George's Day a public holiday in England, is that Northern Ireland has its own Saint Patrick's Day (March 17), and that Scotland recently obtained Saint Andrew's Day (November 30) as a public holiday in Scotland, kind of. Detractors point out that there are already enough public holidays in April and May with Easter and the 2 May public holidays, and that another public holiday would be bad for business. In the end, it is possible that a compromise, similar to the one reached in Scotland, will be reached. This would add Saint George's Day as a possible replacement for another public holiday, but not as an additional public holiday.

Peru Confirms April 30 Civil Servants Bridge Holiday

Sources: Andina and Peru Public Holidays. The bridge holiday of Monday April 30, 2007, has been confirmed, affording Peruvian civil servants a 4-day public holiday, from Saturday April 28 to Tuesday May 1, 2007, inclusively. As set out originally, on August 22 of last year, when the 2007 series of bridge holidays was published in the Boletín de Normas Legales del Diario Oficial El Peruano, these bridge holidays are compulsory only for civil servants, but the private sector is encouraged to find agreements on a case-by-case basis, although if an agreement cannot be reached in a company, the management shall have the last word.

Montenegro Revamps List Of National And Public Holidays

Sources: Government of Montenegro (Press Release) and Montenegro public holidays. At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic, the Government of Montenegro adopted the Bill on National and Other Holidays, which provides for the following national holidays: Independence Day (May 21), Statehood Day (July 13), and, among others, also recognizes New Year and Labor Day, as universally accepted, international holidays.

Falkland Islands Confirms Moving Queen's Birthday Public Holiday to April 23

Sources: Mercopress and Falkland Islands Public Holidays. The Falkland Islands will celebrate the Queen's Birthday tomorrow, Saturday April 21. However, it has been confirmed that the public holiday corresponding to the Queen's Birthday will be moved to Monday, April 23, 2007.

Nigeria Declares Today, April 20, Public Holiday

Sources: Vanguard and Nigeria Public Holidays. Earlier this morning, the Nigerian Federal Government declared today, Friday April 20, 2007, the day before the Legislative and Presidential Elections, a public holiday, in a move similar to that of last week, when it declared a two-day public holiday at the last moment to prevent the courts from ruling on the gubernatorial elections of April 14.

Analysis: Business life should come to a standstill even greater than on usual public holidays, as this last minute declaration of a public holiday will have the effect of preventing the courts from ruling on issues related to tomorrow's elections, and will most likely further inflame tempers which had been running high earlier this week, particularly in the northern half of the country.

On the other hand, in the southern, more easy-going, part of the country, people may not react negatively to this last minute declaration of a public holiday, after all. Indeed, there are reports that yesterday, Thursday, in some cities, most government and office workers had stayed at home for the day, arguing that "since last week Thursday and Friday were declared work free days to enable them participate in the governorship and house of assembly elections there was no reason why they should not enjoy the same number of days this week as public holidays".

El Salvador Civil Servants Get Bridge Public Holiday on April 30

Sources: El Diario de Hoy and El Salvador Public Holidays. The El Salvador Legislative Assembly approved a bill, introduced by the Partido Demócrata Cristiano, and which gives civil servants Monday April 30, 2007, as a bridge public holiday, and extends their weekend for 4 days, from Saturday April 28, 2007 to the upcoming public holiday of Tuesday May 1, 2007. This applies to all civil servants, except the police and essential medical personnel. Minister of the Economy, Yolanda de Gavidia, indicated that she would pressure the government to determine this type of additional bridge holiday at the beginning of the year, allowing for better preparation from all sectors of the economy.

Many in Venezuela Expected To Take April 20 As Bridge Holiday

Sources: El Universal and Venezuela Public Holidays. With an upcoming public holiday on Thursday April 19, 2007, many in Venezuela, particularly civil servants, are expected to make a bridge to the weekend (hacer puente) and not work on Friday April 20, 2007, either.

Analysis: The Venezuelan government seems to be acknowledging the bridge holiday, by giving credence to rumours that it will be extending the "dry law" (which prevents the sale or serving of alcohol during public holidays) to the entire 4 day period of April 19-22 (Notitarde).

India's Punjab Will Reinstate Mahavir Jayanti Public Holiday

Sources: New Kerala and India Public Holidays. The Chief Minister of India's northwestern State of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal, announced that a public holiday will henceforth be observed, every year, on the Jain religious holiday of Mahavir Jayanti, and that this will be a "dry day" (ie. no alcohol sold or served) in the State of Punjab.

Analysis: The religious holiday occurs on the 13th day of the waxing Moon of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Chaitra. This year, the public holiday fell on March 31 (the day of the above-referenced announcement), and in 2008, it is expected to occur on April 18.

Nepal Declares April 24 Public Holiday

Sources: Nepalnews and Nepal Public Holidays. Nepal's Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, has declared a public holiday on Loktantra Day, Tuesday April 24, 2007, to commemorate the first anniversary of restoration of democracy, when King Gyanendra relinquished power.

Guatemala's Teachers' Union Negotiating for More Holidays

Sources: La Prensa Libre and Guatemala Public Holidays. Guatemala's Teachers' Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Educación de Guatemala, or STEG) is currently renegotiating its collective agreement with the government.

Not surprisingly, one of the union's demands is more holidays for its members. Specifically: Guatemala's Teacher's Day on June 25 (Día del Maestro en Guatemala), and International Teaching Day on October 5 (Día internacional del docente), as well as the automatic compensation of public holidays that fall on a Saturday or Sunday.

More original, is the demand that a personal public holiday be declared for each teacher on his or her birthday, and the somewhat politically incorrectly stated demand that male heads of family (varones que sean padres de familia) get an additional public holiday on June 17.

To top it off, the STEG demands that teachers be allowed to arrive late for work, 40 days a year, without any sanction (based on the argument that non-teaching civil servants of the Ministry of Education, Mineduc, are allowed to come late for work, 48 days a year).

Papua New Guinea Declares April 16 Public Holiday Following the Death of Peter Tsiamalili

Sources: The National (online article has incorrect date), Radio New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Public Holidays. A public holiday was declared today as a mark of respect for Peter Tsiamalili, who died last night in his sleep at the age of 54, and who had served as Department of Personnel Management Secretary before taking up his current position of Administrator of the Autonomous Papua New Guinea Region of Bougainville.

Solomon Islands Declares April 23 Public Holiday to Remember Tsunami Victims

Sources: ABC News and Solomon Islands Public Holidays. The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, announced that Monday April 23, 2007, will be a public holiday to remember the 40 people killed and 6,000 left homeless by the quake and tsunami which hit the Solomon Islands on April 2, 2007.

Cameroon Confirms Sunday May 20 for 2007 National Day Celebrations

Sources: Cameroon Tribune and Cameroon Public Holidays. Recent news reports confirm that the main National Day celebration and parade will take place on Sunday, May 20, 2007. For the moment, no mention has been made of a possible public holiday, on Monday, May 21, to compensate for this year's Sunday occurrence of National Day. We will, however continue to monitor any further developments.

Latvia Additional Public Holidays on April 30 and December 24, 2007

Sources: Latvijas Banka and Latvia public holidays. Latvia has declared Monday April 30, and Monday December 24, 2007, as additional public holidays. As compensation, Saturday April 14, and Saturday December 29, 2007, will both be regular working days.

Analysis: This creation of "bridge" holidays to be compensated by working Saturdays is part of a recent trend that has already been implemented, for 2007, in Bulgaria, Hungary, the Ukraine, and to a lesser extent, in the Philippines.

Brazil's Bishops' Conference Suggests May 11 Public Holiday Only in São Paulo

Source: O Norte Online. The controversy continues concerning the declaration of May 11 as a national public holiday to coincide with Pope Benedict XVI visit to mark the canonization of Frei Galvão, the first Brazilian saint ever (our story of March 28). After a recent call to downgrade this one-off public holiday, from the list of feriados nacionais, to ponto facultativo (our story of April 10), the Conference of Brazilian Bishops (Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil, or CNBB) has now added its own call for a revocation of the May 11 public holiday, suggesting that it should be limited to the city of São Paulo only. In that statement, the CNBB goes to great lengths to point out that, in any event, this public holiday should be considered in the light of facilitating the city's traffic, rather than as a religious holiday. [Brazil public holidays]

Analysis: This latest declaration of a municipal holiday in São Paulo only, to clear the streets of traffic during the hosting of an international conference, if it came to pass, would be part of a recent trend worldwide, with recent examples such as the Montevideo Iberoamerican Summit (Nov. 2006), the Riyadh Arab Summit (Mar. 2007), and the upcoming Sydney APEC Meeting (Sep. 2007).

Samoa Declares April 12-13 National Public Holiday

Sources: Radio Australia Sport and Samoa public holidays. The Samoan Cabinet has approved the allocation of the afternoon of Thursday April 12 (commencing at 12 noon), and the entire day of Friday April 13, 2007 as a public holiday, to celebrate the Manu Samoa Sevens Team’s victory at the 2007 Hong Kong Sevens.

Analysis: Countries in the Pacific seem to take rugby very seriously indeed. One will recall that in June 2006, it was the Fiji 7s rugby team which came back from the Sevens Tournament (held in London, that year), leading to cabinet approving the payment of a sizable bonus to the 7s team "for winning the IRB series and promoting the country internationally", as well as a sizable budget, by local standards, "to be spent on rugby victory celebrations". The only thing that prevented the declaration of a public holiday in 2006 was that one was coming up (the Queen's Birthday) within a few days. But, the previous year, in 2005, a public holiday was declared for the then again victorious 7s Fiji team.

Chile Introduces Law to Restrict Retail Activity During Its 3 Compulsory Public Holidays

Source: La Nación. Yesterday, the Chilean government introduced a new law proposal to the Chamber of Deputies, under the reference Boletín N° 4976, concerning the compulsory character (carácter obligatorio e irrenunciable) of New Year (January 1), Independence Day (September 18) and Christmas Day (December 25). This new law, if passed, would modify the law N° 19.973, of September 10, 2004, and extend to all workers of the retail sector, the rights previously only enjoyed by retail employees whose store was located in a shopping mall (centros comerciales o malls), and would probably mean that on these 3 aforementioned public holidays, retail shopping would grind to a halt, except for 1-person, self-employed stores. [Chile public holidays]

Myanmar's Burmese New Year Public Holiday Will Last 10 Days (April 13-22)

Source: The Irrawaddy. The Myanmar government has designated a 10-day-long Burmese New Year public holiday (Friday April 13 to Sunday April 22, 2007) to replace the traditional five-day break, which consists of the April 13 Thingyan Water Festival public holiday lasting 4 days, followed immediately by a one-day Myanmar/Burmese New Year public holiday on April 17. [Myanmar public holidays]

Nigeria Declares Public Holiday On April 12-13

Source: Reuters Africa. Earlier today, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a 2-day public holiday for the end of this week, Thursday and Friday, April 12 and 13, 2007. These 2 days are to be "work-free days to enable people to travel in order to participate in gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections". Nigerians vote for state governors and legislators on Saturday April 14, and will vote for the president and the National Assembly a week later.

Malaysia's Banks Will Observe April 26 Civil Servants Public Holiday

Source: Business Times. Following last week's government's announcement that the April 26 public holiday was not compulsory for the private sector (our story of April 8), the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) announced today that banks in Malaysia would also close on April 26.

In the same communique, the ABM announced that it would also observe the May 2, 2007, additional public holiday (our story of April 9) due to the occurrence of Wesak Day and the May Day holiday, on the same date in 2007.

Analysis: This is not a surprise, as banks in most countries of the world tend to follow the, generally more generous, public holidays schedules of civil servants.

Ecuador's Azuay Province Declares April 12-13 Public Holidays

Source: El Mercurio. Only a week after the extended Easter public holidays, the governor of Ecuador's Azuay Province declared a local public holiday for civil servants on Thursday April 12, on the occasion of the city of Cuenca municipal day, and on Friday April 13, for the entire educational sector, on the occasion of the "Día del Maestro" (Teacher's Day).

China Declares May 1 to May 7 as Golden Week Public Holiday

Source: Shanghai Daily. China's State Council announced today that employees in China will enjoy a week long holiday from May 1 to May 7, 2007, for Labor Day. To compensate, though, they will have to work the preceding weekend days of Saturday and Sunday, April 28-29, 2007. Anyone having to work on any the first three days of the "golden week" will be paid at an overtime rate of 3 times his/her normal salary.

Analysis: China launched three golden weeks from 1999, to extend to a full week, its three, 3-day long public holidays, which are Lunar New Year, May Day and National Day (October 1st). Today's announcement is interesting, as there had been many calls, from Chinese officials, to do away with the concept of Golden Weeks, either because of the traffic chaos they cause (our news story of December 25, 2006) or because these extra days would be best used for more traditional Chinese holidays such as Lunar New Year's Eve, the Lantern Festival, Qingming, the Dragon-Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival (our news story of March 2, 2007).

Double Public Holiday for Costa Rica's Alajuela Civil Servants on April 11 and 16

Source: Teletica 7. Since 2005, public holidays that fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, are moved to the next Monday. However, civil servants, teachers and professors in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica's second most important province, will be entitled to a double public holiday, tomorrow, April 11, on the anniversary of Juan Santamaria, and again on Monday April 16.

Brazil Considers Downgrading Status of May 11 Public Holiday to Ponto Facultativo

Source: Diário da Manhã. The deputy José Múcio Monteiro (PTB-PE), has prepared an amendment to the bill that would make May 11, 2007, the day of the canonization of Brazil's first saint, Frei Galvão, a public holiday, as reported in our post of March 28. That amendment would reduce the status of May 11, removing it from the 2007 list of "feriados nacionais", and making it a "ponto facultativo".

Analysis: The main reaction to the news, so far, has come from the financial sector, for whom, a ponto facultativo does not enter into the calculation of monthly interests (vencimentos). Otherwise, Brazil's overwhelmingly Catholic population seems set on enjoying this special event, regardless of its status.

Nepal's Christians Demand Easter Sunday Public Holiday

Source: UCAN. Christians in eastern Nepal rallied on Easter Sunday to urge the government, and the soon to be elected constituent assembly (polls on June 20), to designate Easter Sunday as a public holiday (Sundays are normal working days in Nepal, where Saturday is the weekly day off).

Analysis: Christians who number about 1 million out of Nepal's 28 million inhabitants, already have Christmas Day as a holiday (for civil servants, at least). As the list of Nepal public holidays for B.S. 2064 (apx. March 2007-March 2008) was recently updated, and Easter 2007 has just occurred,it is unlikely that anything will become effective until early 2008.

Grenada Declares Cricket World Cup Public Holiday On April 10

Source: Grenada Broadcasting Network. As we conjectured in our March 23 posting, Grenada has declared a one-off public holiday on Tuesday April 10, 2007, to coincide with Grenada's hosting of its first match of the current ICC Cricket World Cup.

Analysis: The declaration of a public holiday in Grenada for the Cricket World Cup, follows earlier declarations in Saint Kitts and Nevis (March 22) and Antigua and Barbuda (March 27). Recall that in our earlier posting we also listed the following as possible candidates for one-off ICC Cricket World Cup public holidays: the first match day in Barbados (April 11), or the dates of semi-finals and finals in host countries (Jamaica on April 24, Saint Lucia on April 25, and Barbados on April 28).

Malaysia Confirms Wesak Public Holiday Observance 30 Days Before Singapore

Source: New Straights Times, The Star, and Malaysian Buddhist Association. The secretary-general of the Malaysian Buddhist Association (MBA), Lim Then Pong, confirmed that the MBA had recommended to the Malaysian government to gazette May 1, 2007, as a public holiday for Wesak Day,as it conformed to a resolution on the matter passed by the World Buddhists Conference in 1950 in Sri Lanka. Note, however, that as May 1st is already a public holiday, Wesak Day will be observed as a public holiday on May 2, 2007, in Malaysia. Meanwhile, neighboring Singapore will observe Vesak Day, 30 days later, on May 31st, 2007.

Analysis: The discrepancy that exists in some years between the Singapore and Malaysia dates for Wesak, dates back from 1946 when talks began in Malaysia to include Wesak as a public holiday in Malaysia. The Chinese Buddhists wanted to celebrate the occasion on the 8th Day of the Chinese 4th Moon, but the southern Buddhists (Sinhalese, Siamese and Burmese) insisted on the "orthodox" day i.e. the Wesak Full Moon Day, as observed, for example in Sri Lanka. Wesak, as defined in southern Buddhist countries cannot occur outside the month of May (in fact it cannot even occur on the 31st of May), while the calculation method used in Singapore does sometimes lead to occurrences of Vesak in June (it was observed on June 2, 2004, for example).

Sudan Confirms Public Holiday on Sham Al-Nasim

Source: Sudanese Media Center. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of The Sudan announced that tomorrow, Monday, April 9, 2007, will be an official public holiday for all state employees, on the occasion of Sham Al-Nasim. He also laid out, the observance dates for both the western and eastern orthodox sects.

Canada May Soon Have a New February Public Holiday in Manitoba

Source: Radio-Canada. The Labour Minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba, Nancy Allan, will introduce a bill, this coming week, to add a new public holiday, to occur every year, sometime in the month of February.

Analysis: The specific date an name of this new public holiday has not yet been finalized. However, this new public holiday is in line with the addition of a similar, February public holiday, in the province of Alberta in 1990, and in neighboring Saskatchewan, in 2006. Both of these February public holidays were named "Family Day", so there is a good chance that the new public holiday in Manitoba will be similarly named.

In a much less directly related manner, one will remember our news story of February 17, in which we reported on a British Columbia private member's bill to declare Flag Day, February 15, a federal holiday, confirming Western Canada's yearning for a public holiday to bridge the holiday-less gap between New Year's Day and Easter.

April 26 Malaysia Public Holiday Not Compulsory for Private Sector

Source: Malaysian National News Agency. The Malaysian Human Resource Minister announced that the April 26, 2007, public holiday would be a holiday only for employees in the public sector, but that the government "would encourage the private sector to also do the same".

Analysis: This public holiday is to mark the coronation of Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, the country’s 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Tuanku Mizan, 44, was elected by the Malay Rulers at the 208th meeting of the Conference of Rulers on Nov 3 last year to serve as the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong for five years from Dec 13, 2006.

See also: April 11 follow-up.

France's Socialists Promise Whit Monday Public Holiday if Elected

Sources: Le Figaro and France Public Holidays. Part of the Socialist Party's "projet" which is supposed to be binding upon its presidential candidate, contains the promise to re-instate Whit Monday as a public holiday in France.

Analysis: Recall that the Whit Monday public holiday was canceled in a national surge of solidarity with the over 15000 elderly who died as a consequence of the summer of 2003 heat wave in France. However, as the first occurrence of that cancellation neared (in May 2005), voices on the extreme left and extreme right of the political spectrum became more and more vocal in their refusal to accept one less public holiday, in exchange for better treatment of old people in France.

In most countries, the influence of the extreme left and extreme right is limited, but in France's last presidential election, in 2002, the combined vote for the extreme left and extreme right neared 30% (thirty percent) of the popular vote, with 5 presidential candidates positioning themselves to the left of the Communist Party (ie. denouncing the Communist Party as being too "bourgeois"), and with the extreme right presidential candidate reaching the second round of voting. Then in 2005, it was essentially an alliance between the extreme left and the extreme right that managed to scuttle the European Constitution referendum.

The next French Presidential Election will occur in 2 stages, on April 22 and then on May 6, 2007. The socialist candidate is expected to qualify for the second round, but current polls do not show her as winning the second round. In any event, the socialist presidential candidate, who seems to be a modern European socialist, has repeatedly said that she would only take what she deemed useful, from the socialist party's project (which was mostly put together by the archaic wing of the party).

See also: For an excellent analysis of the upcoming French elections, and the French political system in general, in English, the best we have read anywhere, in any language, see the recent post on the Venezuela News And Views blog.

Ecuador Confirms Moving of Public Holidays of May 24 and October 9

Source: Dirección Nacional de Comunicación Social. The Ecuadoran government has confirmed the moving, in 2007, of the public holiday of the Battle of Pichincha to Friday May 25, and of the public holiday for the Independence of Guayaquil to Friday October 12, as set out in the Executive Decree 2369 of January 12, 2007. In that context, May 24 and October 9, 2007, will be normal working days.

Serbia's Constitution Day Changed from April 27 to February 15

Source: Ministry of Work, Health and Social Affairs. On March 29, 2007, as a corollary to the June 2006 separation of Montenegro, the Serbian Government announced that Constitution Day (April 27) will no longer be a public holiday in Serbia, as that date referred to the constitution of the former entity. From now on, the Constitution Day public holiday will be observed on February 15, formerly the date of Serbia's National Day.

Melbourne Cup Day to Become a Public Holiday in Australia's ACT

Source: ABC Online. The ACT Government has confirmed Melbourne Cup day will be the public holiday that replaces the union picnic day that was scrapped under the Federal Government's WorkChoices legislation. Industrial Relations Minister Andrew Barr said he will introduce the legislation in August to make the first Tuesday in November a day off for workers.

New December 18 Qatar National Day Public Holiday

Source: The Peninsula Online. Yesterday, the Cabinet approved a draft law considering the day of Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani assumption of power in Qatar as a state National Day, on December 18, on which occasion all ministries and other state institutions will close down every year.

April 5 Public Holiday in New Delhi

Source: The Times of India. A public holiday has been declared for Thursday April 5, in New Delhi on account of the civic polls to be held here.

Analysis: Central government offices in Delhi will not be closed on that day, although many civil servants can be expected not to be available, on the basis of that public holiday and the fact that the next day is Good Friday, also a public holiday in India. Please note, also, that most hotels and restaurants, in the Delhi area, will not serve alcohol in bars and restaurants, prior to the election. In most cases, the "dry" spell began at 6pm on Tuesday April 3, and will last until 6pm on Thursday April 5.

Status of Malawi's May 14 Kamuzu Day Still Uncertain but Expected to Pass

Source: Nation Online. Although Malawi's newly revived, May 14, public holiday to commemorate the country’s first president the late Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, still has to be approved by cabinet, it is expected to be approved and occur on May 14, 2007, for the first time.

Senegal's 2007 National Day Flanked by Additional Public Holidays on April 3 and April 5

Source: Sud Quotidien. President Abdoulaye Wade who was re-elected on February 25, declared the day of his inauguration, Tuesday April 3, 2007, a fully-paid public holiday in Senegal. As the 4th is Senegal's National Day, he also declared Thursday April 5th a public holiday (leaving open the question of paid wages), as well as leaving open for all, the option of taking Friday the 6th, as a personal day, without pay to extend the week's holidays.

Reports that Many Argentinian Businesses Will Close from April 2-8

As a follow-up to our post of March 17, we have had reports from clients and contacts in Buenos Aires that, although April 3 and 4 have not been officially declared public holidays, many businesses are closing for the entire Semana Santa (Holy Week, the week before Easter) from April 2-8, 2007, nonetheless.

Analysis: Recall that this year, the Semana Santa is particularly short, as the usual public holidays of Maundy Thursday (April 5) and Good Friday (April 6) are joined by the April 2, Malvinas Day, public holiday. The occurrence of the April 2 public holiday at the beginning of Easter week (Monday to Wednesday), will take place again in 2012, leading to a situation similar to the one of this year, and then, not again until 2042. The April 2 public holiday will, however, coincide with one of the Easter days off (Thursday to Sunday), in 2010, 2015, 2021, 2026, and 2037.