Many Regret Passing of the Guillotine

PARIS — Half of French people regret the passing of the guillotine, saying that abolition of the death penalty 10 years ago was not a good step, according to an opinion poll Thursday.

Parliament abolished the death penalty, carried out since 1791 by beheading on the guillotine, soon after President Francois Mitterrand was elected and his Socialists won a majority in 1981.

The poll, published by the daily Le Parisien Libere, said 50% believe the end of the guillotine had not been a good thing against 41% percent who thought it was positive.

The poll, published ahead of today’s 10th anniversary of Mitterrand’s election, said the most popular steps taken by the Socialists were to bring retirement forward to 60, to cut the working week to 39 hours and to tax fortunes of the wealthy.