French presidential election, 1995
Encyclopedia
Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995, to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic
.
The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand
, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election
in a landslide defeat. Since 1993, he had been "cohabiting
" with a conservative cabinet led by Edouard Balladur
, a member of the Neo-Gaullist RPR
. Balladur had promised the leader of the RPR, Jacques Chirac
, that he would not run for the presidency, but as polls showed him doing well and he had the support of many conservative politicians, he decided to run. The competition within the right between Balladur and Chirac was a major component of the campaign.
Meanwhile, the left was weakened by scandals and disappointments regarding Mitterrand's presidency. In June 1994, former Prime Minister Michel Rocard
was dismissed as head of Socialist Party (PS) after the party's poor showing in the European Parliament election. Then, Jacques Delors
decided not to stand as a candidate because he disagreed with the re-alignment on the left orchestrated by new party leader Henri Emmanuelli
. This left the field wide open for numerous potential candidacies: among those who are known to have considered a run, or were strongly urged by others, are Jack Lang
, Pierre Joxe
, Laurent Fabius
, Ségolène Royal
and Robert Badinter
. Former education minister Lionel Jospin
was chosen by PS members as the party's candidate in a primary election pitting him against Henri Emmanuelli. He promised to restore the credibility and moral reputation of his party, but his chances of winning were seen as being thin.
The French Communist Party
(PCF) tried to stop its electoral decline. Its new leader Robert Hue
campaigned against "king money" and wanted to represent a renewed communism. He was faced with competition for the far left vote by the Trotskyist candidacy of Arlette Laguiller
, who ran for the fourth time. Both of these candidates had a better result than their parties had in 1988, but came nowhere near being able to participate in the next round. In choosing Dominique Voynet
, the Greens opted for their integration with the left.
On the far-right, Jean-Marie Le Pen
tried to repeat his surprising result that he obtained in the previous presidential election. His main rival for the far-right vote was Philippe de Villiers
, candidate of the euro-sceptic parliamentary right.
In January 1995, when he announced his candidacy, Balladur was the favorite of the political right. According to the SOFRES polls institute, he held an advantage of 14 points over Chirac (32% against 18% for the first round). He took advantage of his "positive assessment" as Prime Minister and advocated a moderately liberal economic policy. Chirac denounced the "social fracture" and criticized the "dominant thought", targeting Balladur. Chirac argued, "the pay slip is not the enemy of employment". Indeed, unemployment was the main theme of the campaign. From the start of March, Chirac gained ground on Balladur in the polls.
Chirac's campaign slogan was "France for everyone"; Balladur's: "Believe in France"; and Jospin's: "A clear vote for a more just France".
Lionel Jospin lead in the first round, in what appeared to be an electoral recovery for the Socialist Party. His right-wing challenger for the second round was Jacques Chirac and not Edouard Balladur. Defeated, Balladur endorsed the RPR candidate. Jean-Marie Le Pen repeated his good result of the previous presidential election.
During the TV debate between the two finalists, they disagreed about the presidential term. Jospin wanted to reduce it to 5 years whereas Chirac was in favour of the 7-year term. The PS candidate responded: "the choice is 5 years with me or 7 years with Jacques Chirac, which will be very long". Eventually, the presidential term was reduced to 5 years after the 2002 election.
Jacques Chirac was elected President of the French Republic
. Édouard Balladur resigned as prime minister and foreign minister Alain Juppé
succeeded him.
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
.
The incumbent Socialist president, François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
, did not stand for a third term. He was 78, had cancer, and his party had lost the previous legislative election
French legislative election, 1993
French legislative elections took place on 21 and 28 March 1993 to elect the 10th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.Since 1988, President François Mitterrand and his Socialist cabinets had relied on a relative parliamentary majority. Without the support of the Communists, Prime minister...
in a landslide defeat. Since 1993, he had been "cohabiting
Cohabitation (government)
Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as France's system, when the President is from a different political party than the majority of the members of parliament. It occurs because such a system forces the president to name a premier that will be acceptable to the...
" with a conservative cabinet led by Edouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
, a member of the Neo-Gaullist RPR
Gaullist Party
In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift...
. Balladur had promised the leader of the RPR, Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
, that he would not run for the presidency, but as polls showed him doing well and he had the support of many conservative politicians, he decided to run. The competition within the right between Balladur and Chirac was a major component of the campaign.
Michel Rocard
Michel Rocard is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party . He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991, during which he created the Revenu minimum d'insertion , a social minimum welfare program for indigents, and led the Matignon Accords regarding the status...
was dismissed as head of Socialist Party (PS) after the party's poor showing in the European Parliament election. Then, Jacques Delors
Jacques Delors
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:...
decided not to stand as a candidate because he disagreed with the re-alignment on the left orchestrated by new party leader Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli
Henri Emmanuelli is a French politician.A member of the Socialist Party , he has been deputy for Landes from 1978 to 1981, from 1986 to 1997 and since 2000.-Biography:...
. This left the field wide open for numerous potential candidacies: among those who are known to have considered a run, or were strongly urged by others, are Jack Lang
Jack Lang (French politician)
Jack Mathieu Émile Lang is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, he served as France's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1986 and 1988 to 1992, and as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002. He was also the Mayor of Blois from 1989 to 2000...
, Pierre Joxe
Pierre Joxe
Pierre Joxe is a former French Socialist politician and has been a member of the Constitutional Council of France since 2001....
, Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
, Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal
Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...
and Robert Badinter
Robert Badinter
Robert Badinter is a high-profile French criminal lawyer, university professor and politician mainly known for his struggle against the death penalty, the abolition of which he successfully sponsored in Parliament in 1981...
. Former education minister Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
was chosen by PS members as the party's candidate in a primary election pitting him against Henri Emmanuelli. He promised to restore the credibility and moral reputation of his party, but his chances of winning were seen as being thin.
The French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF) tried to stop its electoral decline. Its new leader Robert Hue
Robert Hue
Robert Hue, in full Robert Georges Auguste Hue , is a French politician who was National Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002...
campaigned against "king money" and wanted to represent a renewed communism. He was faced with competition for the far left vote by the Trotskyist candidacy of Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Laguiller
Arlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party...
, who ran for the fourth time. Both of these candidates had a better result than their parties had in 1988, but came nowhere near being able to participate in the next round. In choosing Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:...
, the Greens opted for their integration with the left.
On the far-right, Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
tried to repeat his surprising result that he obtained in the previous presidential election. His main rival for the far-right vote was Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
, candidate of the euro-sceptic parliamentary right.
In January 1995, when he announced his candidacy, Balladur was the favorite of the political right. According to the SOFRES polls institute, he held an advantage of 14 points over Chirac (32% against 18% for the first round). He took advantage of his "positive assessment" as Prime Minister and advocated a moderately liberal economic policy. Chirac denounced the "social fracture" and criticized the "dominant thought", targeting Balladur. Chirac argued, "the pay slip is not the enemy of employment". Indeed, unemployment was the main theme of the campaign. From the start of March, Chirac gained ground on Balladur in the polls.
Chirac's campaign slogan was "France for everyone"; Balladur's: "Believe in France"; and Jospin's: "A clear vote for a more just France".
Opinion polls
| Jacques Chirac | Lionel Jospin | Édouard Balladur | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 March 1994 | 14 % | 24 % | 33 % |
| 6–8 September 1994 | 16 % | 27 % | 30 % |
| 26–28 December 1994 | 14 % | 22 % | 25 % |
| 10–12 January 1995– | 17 % | 20 % | 29 % |
| 24–26 January 1995 – | 18 % | 17 % | 32 % |
| 7–9 February 1995 – | 17,5 % | 22,5 % | 28 % |
| 21–23 February 1995 | 19 % | 24 % | 23 % |
| 8–9 March 1995 | 24 % | 21 % | 20 % |
| 21–22 March 1995 | 26 % | 22 % | 17 % |
| 4–5 April 1995 | 24 % | 22 % | 20 % |
| 13–14 April 1995 | 24 % | 20,5 % | 16,5 % |
| Results | 20,8 % | 23,2 % | 18,15 % |
First round
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995... |
Socialist Party (PS) | 7,098,191 | 23.30% | |
| Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the... |
Rally for the Republic Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic , was a French right-wing political party. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic , it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullism... (RPR) |
6,348,696 | 20.84% | |
| Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France... |
splinter of Rally for the Republic Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic , was a French right-wing political party. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic , it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and presented itself as the heir of Gaullism... (RPR), supported by the Union for French Democracy Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's... (UDF) |
5,658,996 | 18.57% | |
| Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than... |
Front National Front National Front National can mean:* Front National , a French political party* Front National , a World War II French Resistance group* Front National , a Belgian political party... (FN) |
4,571,138 | 15.00% | |
| Robert Hue Robert Hue Robert Hue, in full Robert Georges Auguste Hue , is a French politician who was National Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1994 to 2001 and President of the PCF from 2001 to 2002... |
French Communist Party French Communist Party The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French... (PCF) |
2,638,936 | 8.66% | |
| Arlette Laguiller Arlette Laguiller Arlette Yvonne Laguiller is a French Trotskyist politician. Since 1973, she has been the spokeswoman and the best known leader and perennial candidate of the Lutte Ouvrière political party... |
Workers' Struggle | 1,615,653 | 5.30% | |
| Philippe de Villiers Philippe de Villiers Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top... |
Movement for France Movement for France The Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered... (MPF) |
1,443,235 | 4.74% | |
| Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet Dominique Voynet was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, the mayor of Montreuil and a member of The Greens.-Life:... |
The Greens | 1,010,738 | 3.32% | |
| Jacques Cheminade Jacques Cheminade Jacques Cheminade, born August 20, 1941 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a French political activist. He is associated with the LaRouche movement, an international network of groups led by the American political activist, Lyndon LaRouche. He was a candidate for the French presidential election, 1995... |
(affiliated with the LaRouche Movement LaRouche movement The LaRouche movement is an international political and cultural network that promotes Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included scores of organizations and companies around the world. Their activities include campaigning, private intelligence gathering, and publishing numerous periodicals,... ) |
84,969 | 0.28% | |
| Total | 30,470,552 | 100% | ||
Lionel Jospin lead in the first round, in what appeared to be an electoral recovery for the Socialist Party. His right-wing challenger for the second round was Jacques Chirac and not Edouard Balladur. Defeated, Balladur endorsed the RPR candidate. Jean-Marie Le Pen repeated his good result of the previous presidential election.
During the TV debate between the two finalists, they disagreed about the presidential term. Jospin wanted to reduce it to 5 years whereas Chirac was in favour of the 7-year term. The PS candidate responded: "the choice is 5 years with me or 7 years with Jacques Chirac, which will be very long". Eventually, the presidential term was reduced to 5 years after the 2002 election.
Second round
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacques Chirac Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the... |
Rally for the Republic Gaullist Party In France, the Gaullist Party is usually used to refer to the largest party professing to be Gaullist. Gaullism claimed to transcend the left/right rift... (RPR) |
15,763,027 | 52.64% | |
| Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995... |
Socialist Party (PS) | 14,180,644 | 47.36% | |
| Total | 29,943,671 | 100% | ||
Jacques Chirac was elected President of the French Republic
President of the French Republic
The President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
. Édouard Balladur resigned as prime minister and foreign minister Alain Juppé
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...
succeeded him.
External links
- http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&from=tl__ogp_int_parcours&num_notice=5&id_notice=CAB95028272 Radio-TV debate Jacques Chirac/Lionel Jospin
- http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&from=tl__ogp_int_parcours&num_notice=7&id_notice=CAB05011287 Announcement of the result of the second round, on TV