PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac is expected to name a new prime minister and order a policy shakeup on Tuesday, in an effort to claw back the political initiative after his crushing defeat over the EU constitution.
Aides said Chirac would address the nation late on Tuesday, an announcement that heralded the resignation of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, whose unpopular economic reforms and poor record on jobs were blamed in part for Sunday's result.
Some 71 percent of French voters want to see Raffarin leave his post, a Louis-Harris survey for the Liberation daily showed on Tuesday. Almost half those polled said they wanted early parliamentary elections.
"Raffarin, the end at last," Liberation said in a headline.
"Jacques Chirac is consulting, Jean-Pierre Raffarin is leaving, Dominique de Villepin is ready," added daily Le Figaro.
Chirac met all main candidates for prime minister on Monday, notably Interior Minister Villepin, a Chirac loyalist, and former Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who hopes to replace Chirac as president in 2007.
As foreign minister Villepin won plaudits for his elegant defense of France's opposition to the U.S...<More>
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