France: France Elects a President

▪ 1996

      In January 1995 conservative Prime Minister Édouard Balladur felt fairly confident that he could easily win the forthcoming presidential election and succeed François Mitterrand, the ailing Socialist who had held the job for two consecutive seven-year terms. Jacques Delors, the outgoing Socialist president of the European Commission, who had been tipped as the most popular candidate, had decided not to run, which left the Socialist Party (PS) in disarray. Former prime minister Jacques Chirac (see BIOGRAPHIES (Chirac, Jacques Rene )), now the mayor of Paris and head of the neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic, the party to which Balladur belonged, had pushed Balladur forward for prime minister in 1993 in order to devote himself to preparations for this election. At the start of 1995, however, Chirac, making his third run for the presidency, was seen as yesterday's man, barely polling 17% against Balladur's 55%.

      Balladur's high popularity ratings had survived a series of crises in 1994, and he looked set to weather new student strikes over a proposed university reform announced on Dec. 29, 1994, and suspended on Feb. 10, 1995. On January 18 Balladur declared his candidacy, and on February 13 he formally launched his campaign. This final confirmation that he was running against his old political mentor Chirac gave rise to calls of “treason” among many Gaullists and, as it turned out, voters. Within days Balladur's high standing in the polls started an inexorable slide, harmed by the loss of his image as a “selfless servant of the state” who had vowed that he would not run.

      Meanwhile, Chirac's relentless campaigning throughout France started bearing fruit. He spoke on social themes, such as unemployment and homelessness, and appeared as the opponent of the establishment embodied by Balladur. By early March, Chirac's political image had been transformed from old tired politico to new people's advocate.

      On February 3 a nationwide vote among PS members gave Lionel Jospin a 65.8% majority over the party's first secretary, Henri Emmanuelli, making Jospin the main opposition candidate. The Communist candidate, the relatively unknown Robert Hue, had declared as early as September 1994. The rest of the field included National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, the anti-European Union and pro-life campaigner Philippe de Villiers, the unknown retired businessman Jacques Cheminade, the Green candidate Dominique Voynet, and the Trotskyist candidate Arlette Laguiller, who was running for the fourth time since 1974. Laguiller's obvious sincerity and loyalty to her lifelong ideals earned her respect and sympathy far beyond party lines; ultimately she polled 5.3% of the vote in the first round, more than either Villiers or Voynet.

      Balladur's progressive fall from grace was hastened by a political scandal involving Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. The division of the conservative vote between Chirac and Balladur caused Jospin to come in first in the first round on April 23, polling 23.3% of the vote, while Chirac scored 20.84% and Balladur won 18.58%. Balladur immediately called on his supporters to vote for Chirac, who was elected president in the runoff on May 7 with 52.64% of the vote against 47.36% for Jospin. (ANNE-ELISABETH MOUTET)

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