Conveniently for Gerry Adams, the general election comes slap bang in the middle of the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.
It was yet another election day slap in the face for Californians on Tuesday: Hours before voters were to cast ballots that one presidential candidate promised would upend the race, the media declared that the race was actually over.
But the ruling Popular Party was so concerned that when Pedro Almodóvar, the country's most celebrated movie director, publicly accused the government of trying to hatch a coup the day before the election, it slapped him with a lawsuit.
"To sign a contract weeks before the election is a slap in the face to all those that voted on the Coalition's public transport promises in 2010," the statement said.
Mr Hollande famously promised during his election campaign to slap a 75% top income-tax rate on the rich yet his government vowed that nine out of ten households would not be touched by tax increases.In the event, the 75% tax was thrown out by the Constitutional Council (companies themselves must now pay it in payroll charges for high earners instead).
When Mr Hollande promised during his 2012 election campaign to slap on a 75% top income-tax rate, a dismayed Mr Macron muttered: "It's Cuba, without the sun!"Mr Macron's appointment follows others in recent months that hint at a takeover by moderate social democrats at the expense of left-wing Socialists.
Addressing a Parliament just selected under a new Constitution, Mr. Assad said that the election was "a slap" against those questioning the reforms in Syria, that the country's problems were rooted in terrorism rather than lack of political change, and that dialogue with the opposition remained possible.
"These elections were a slap in the face for Djindjic.
Last week, after the Maduro government staged its power grab disguised as an election, the United States slapped sanctions on Maduro himself.
Yet when Mr Ivanishvili learnt that Mr Alasania was discussing the possibility of running in the presidential election he publicly slapped him down.
