International

Landslide win may be onerous for Chirac

PARIS June 17. The centre-right's landslide win in French Parliamentary elections gives the President, Jacques Chirac, unfettered power — but he is unlikely to enjoy a honeymoon as voters demand the Government deliver fast on promised reforms.

The final round of voting yesterday gave Mr. Chirac's Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), an umbrella group for the centre-right, an unprecedented grip on public institutions including the presidency and both houses of Parliament. This means the conservatives have the power to implement the promises Mr. Chirac, 69, made during his own campaign for re-election last month — to crack down on crime, cut taxes, loosen employment regulations and overhaul pension systems.

Commentators noted, however, that the carte blanche could be as much of a curse as a blessing for the Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin's "Government of action", appointed by Mr. Chirac. "The tragedy for Chirac starts now: indeed, he must succeed,'' the left-leaning daily Liberation said in an editorial.

"He must do this with a programme that remains to be written and a majority that will be tempted constantly to abuse its crushing majority."

The UMP took 354 seats and the mainstream right overall won 399 of the 577 National Assembly constituencies against 178 for the socialists and other leftists, who lost out after five years of uncomfortable, power-sharing "cohabitation" with Mr. Chirac. The financial daily, Les Echos said that with such a huge majority, the new Government had no excuse for failure.

"With five years ahead of it, with a strong majority to back it and a dilapidated opposition in front of it, everything is possible. And everything can therefore be expected," it said.

Yesterday's victory was a stunning result for Mr. Chirac, who won less than 20 per cent of votes in April's first round of the election.— Reuters

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