|
|
Article: The ten-year itch. (term of political office should be limited) (column)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 17, 1991
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IN MARRIAGE they call it the seven-year itch: the time when things start to go wrong. Remember the Marilyn Monroe film? in politics it is the ten-year itch-the movie, one day, in which Madonna makes the role of Margaret Thatcher her own.
Ten years, it seems, is about as long as any leader ought sensibly to stay in power in a modern democracy. Mrs Thatcher is merely the most striking recent example. She should have gone gracefully after a decade-already longer than any other British prime minister this century-instead of getting kicked out ignominiously after 11 years. After 11 years, too, France said non to General de Gaulle. Now Frangois Mitterrand, France's ...