Chirac Begins Shake-Up After Charter Blow

[Rose Siding]

snip>
An aide said Raffarin was expected to offer his resignation later Monday in a meeting with Chirac. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement has not been made.
...
Chirac chose to hold a referendum rather than take the EU constitution to parliament, where it would have passed with a wide majority.

Other key figures he called to the presidential palace included Nicolas Sarkozy, the ambitious head of the governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, with his eye on the 2007 presidency. A chief rival of Chirac, he is among a handful of possible choices to replace Raffarin.
...
Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, along with Sarkozy and Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, is considered a top choice to replace Raffarin. He left the prime minister's office with Philippe Douste-Blazy, minister of health, another potential choice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5041088,00.html



A POLITICAL REVOLT IN FRANCE --What Rejection of the European Constitution Means (Updated)

The massive defeat of the new European Constitution by the French in today's referendum means a virtual political revolution in France -- a rebellion by the people against the political elites of both left and right. The No vote won by a wide margin of nearly ten points -- the latest figures show 54.87% for the No, 45.13% for the Yes. Despite an overwhelming campaign for a Yes vote by the mainstream French media (including a major pro-Yes bias in TV coverage), and tireless stumping for a Yes vote by nearly all the major political leaders of left, right, and center -- a scare campaign that tried to (falsely) tell the overwhelmingly pro-European French that they would be responsible for destroying construction of a united Europe if they voted against this anti-democratic Constitution -- the French electorate's working and middle classes, by their No vote, rejected the unregulated free-market policies, aimed at destroying the welfare state and the social safety net, embodied in the Constitution. (see my earlier analysis, "The New European Constitution: Should Americans Care?")

Today's vote confirms the enormous gap between what the French call "La France d'en haut et la France d'en bas" -- the France of above and the France of below. And this rejection of France's political and media elites will bring extraordinary changes to the country's political landscape:.........

http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2005/05/the_massive_def.html

[bicentennial_baby]

1. My vote is for de Villepin!

He's hot, well-spoken, and a poet! A flashback to the pre-war UN SC meetings! Hot, hot, hot!

[0007]

2. Yes!

[femmecahors]

8. Tres Beau!!!!!

Why can't we have sexy politicians?

[Mass]

11. French people clearly would prefer somebody more to the left

but Chirac will not make the error to dissolve the parliament again, so I guess we will have to do with de Villepin.

I am not sure why your vote is for him, but I guess because your view is stuck on Iraq, in which case any political person in France would have had the same position.

For the rest, de Villepin is the traditional right-winger in the French political arena, but we are stuck for these people for the next two years, I imagine. After that, let's hope that the French people will remember who fights for them, and it is not Chirac and his party.

[Old and In the Way]

3. I'll bet the Bush imperialists are happy with this.

In another time and another space, I might be more sanguine with the results. But given the Bush agenda to rule the world, I think the French made a big mistake. A united European Union is a far more formidable opposition to Bush then the separate nation-states of Europe.

[Robbien]

4. I am not so sure. It will be harder for capitalists to take over

an industry in Europe now because they do not have the EU Constitution handing them the EU market on a silver platter.

BushCo is all about the capitalist elite and their thurst to monopolize and privatize. Now there is a big ole road bump in their march to high profits at the expense of low labor costs.

[lovuian]

5. The people of France don't want to be told by others how

or what they are to do. They have a socialist mentality the EU had a more captilistic attitude and the people who lose out are the workers!!!

[sintax]

6. French PM Expected to Resign

French PM expected to resign

Agencies
Monday May 30, 2005

The French prime minister was expected to present his resignation to President Jacques Chirac by the end of today, an aide said, following the country's rejection of the European constitution in a referendum yesterday.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin's resignation was likely to be just one of many changes, with President Chirac, jolted into action by the stinging defeat, widely expected to shake up his government to counter political fallout at home and save face for himself and his party.

Mr Chirac would unveil decisions concerning his government and address the nation tomorrow evening, the Elysée Palace said.

Aides to the beleaguered prime minister were seen packing up boxes as he met Mr Chirac today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1495608,00.html

[CorwinB]

7. Some factual errors

"Despite an overwhelming campaign for a Yes vote by the mainstream French media (including a major pro-Yes bias in TV coverage)"

False. Both sides were pretty well representated. Many newspapers were in favor of the No, and newspapers carry a lot more weight in Europe than in the US.

"and tireless stumping for a Yes vote by nearly all the major political leaders of left, right, and center"

False too. With both extremes (wich, together, make up about 30% of the electorate), large union groups, and half of the Socialist Party campaigning for a No, the No add a very large visibility. "No" signs overwhelmed "Yes" signs by a very wide margin, for example (which isn't hard to explain, since the Communists and the large unions which back them are very organized for printed advertisement). Flyers distribution was also massively made of "No" ads.

"the French electorate's working and middle classes, by their No vote, rejected the unregulated free-market policies, aimed at destroying the welfare state and the social safety net, embodied in the Constitution"

Also false. Following the exit polls (in France those can generally be trusted), the "Yes" voters voted mostly for strenghtening Europe, whereas the "No" voters voted either against Europe as a whole (sovereignists and xenophobes from the Far Right), against anything market-related (Communists), or (for a majority) against Chirac's and Raffarin's policy (which was a very stupid thing to do, but French voters are very reliable when it comes to mixing up what an election is about). For the record, the free-market nature of the treaty comes fourth in the list of reasons why people voted "No".

A good case can be made that had Chirac fired Raffarin after the last elections (regional elections), the Yes would have won by a large margin. That and the recent surge in unpopularity of Raffarin, since this year he removed an holiday Monday. This unpopularity of Raffarin and Chirac (however deserved) has been used masterfully by both the Far Right and the Far Left to get people to vote "No" not as a vote against the Treaty, but rather as a vote against the current government (which will in all likelihood change tomorrow).

Regarding free market policies, they are already active in Europe and will continue to be so. The EU Constitution took years of compromise to achieve, and is very unlikely to be changed, especially since the reasons for the "No" vote are so various.

[Colorado Blue]

9. Can you help us figure out what this will mean to EU as a

whole? Is this a major setback?

Thanks.

[ConfuZed]

10. France braced for new prime minister, policy shif

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>

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2005-05-31T080906Z_01_N31631138_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-EU-FRANCE-DC.XML

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. French PM resigns after EU vote

French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has resigned following defeat in Sunday's referendum on the European Union draft constitution.

President Jacques Chirac is expected to name a replacement for Mr Raffarin later in the day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4595423.stm

[spinbaby]

13. New one named already.

Villepin named new prime minister per BBC news.