Snap election closer in France

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 10

Snap election closer in France

NZPA-Reuter Paris A snap General Election looms larger in France after the Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac, vowed to end a powersharing pact with the Left if the Socialist President, Francois Mitterrand, is reelected in May. Political analysts said that Mr Chirac, the conservative challenger, clearly raising the stakes for the presidential elections, was serving an ultimatum on ambivalent voters to make up their minds between the favourite, Mr Mitterrand, and his rivals on the Right.

Since the Socialists lost their parliamentary majority two years ago, the two leaders have shared power in a deal the French call “cohabitation,” with the Socialists

holding the powerful presidency while | Mr Chirac’s conservative coalition controls the Government. Opinion polls show] the arrangement has been popular with a large] proportion of the electorate, blurring the once stark choice between Left] and Right and convincing many voters that a fresh round of MitterrandChirac government could serve well. Mr Mitterrand, rjding high in the popularity stakes, appears to jhave done better out of the deal than the mercurial Mr Chirac. Mr Chirac has the I electoral benefit of two years of fairly popular government and, until now], had not ruled out a continuation of the power-sharing

deal. But his ambivalence angered some supporters who saw the danger of handing Mr Mitterrand the presidency on a plate. “If Francois Mitterrand is re-elected on May 8, that would signify that the majority of the people were against our policy," Mr Chirac told a television interviewer. "We would no longer have their confidence. So, we would stay home and it would be up to Francois Mitterrand to make Socialist policy, which we, naturally, would not support.” Voters are scheduled]to choose their seven-year president anew in a tworound ballot in April and May, with General Elections not normally due for three more years.