Socialist Finishes 1st, Faces Chirac in French Runoff

Proving themselves unpredictable, French voters gave underdog Socialist Party presidential candidate Lionel Jospin a decisive first-place finish Sunday ahead of conservative Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac, setting up a classic left-right battle in the May 7 runoff.

But Jospin’s surprisingly strong showing, with 23.3% of the vote in the nine-candidate field, was far from a guarantee of victory in the final battle to replace retiring Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

Chirac, who polled 20.4% of the vote, received the immediate endorsement of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, a fellow conservative who finished third with 18.5% of the vote. And Chirac may also be able to count on at least some support from the extreme right, whose two candidates together collected a stunning 20% of the vote.

Sunday’s election turned out to be one of the more remarkable in modern French history, reflecting sweeping dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians.

For the first time in three decades, the two top finishers in the first presidential round together collected considerably less than half the total vote--and fringe-party candidates from both the far right and far left made record showings. That means that more than 55% of the voters picked someone other than either of the two men who still have a chance to be president.

“This election shows the perplexity of the French today,” said Alain Duhamel, a noted political analyst in Paris. “Faced with an economic crisis and high unemployment, the voters have looked at each candidate’s solution and decided to cast a strong protest vote.”

The protest votes were recorded at both ends of the political spectrum in an election that brought 80% of the country’s 40 million registered voters to the polls on a cool, rainy day. The turnout, although high by U.S. standards, was the lowest since 1969.

Jean-Marie Le Pen won nearly 15% of the vote, the best-ever finish for his far-right National Front, which embraces a rabidly anti-immigrant platform. His slightly more moderate soul mate, Philippe de Villiers, won 4% of the vote and immediately endorsed Chirac to counter what he called “the real danger of a victory for the left.”

But Le Pen, boasting of a “great political success” for his party, refused to endorse a candidate Sunday night, apparently hoping to use his support base to win concessions from Chirac, whom he has criticized.

“Whichever candidate is elected, unfortunately, will continue the disastrous policies of these last years and will worsen the problems of our country,” said Le Pen, 66. But he added that he will decide next Monday whether to endorse a candidate or recommend that his supporters abstain from voting in the final round.

On the left, the French Communist Party candidate, Robert Hue, finished with a strong 9% of the vote, and Arlette Laguiller, a bank employee and four-time candidate from the Trotskyite Workers’ Struggle Party, collected 5%. Although Laguiller said she would abstain in the final round, left-wing supporters are likely to vote for Jospin.

For Jospin, the strong showing marked a significant comeback and suggested that there is still plenty of life in France’s Socialist Party. The party was beaten soundly by conservatives in the 1993 legislative elections and has been on a downhill slide since 1981, when Mitterrand was elected.

But the party appears to have benefited from anger among the French over growing economic inequality in the country. Dozens of corruption scandals, many involving conservative politicians and titans of industry, have shattered confidence in politics and business leaders.

And many in France remain deeply concerned about the government’s inability to provide more jobs; the unemployment rate, now 12.3%, is the highest among the world’s top industrial nations.

Jospin, a 57-year-old former education minister who lost his National Assembly seat in the conservative tidal wave, has campaigned on promises to halt government privatization of state industries, increase taxes on the rich, increase government involvement in the economy and reduce the workweek to 35 hours without lowering salaries.

Jospin told cheering supporters Sunday night that his first-place finish was a victory for those “who want real change in this country.”

“Together,” he promised, “we will prepare the future and we will make it successful in the interests of the republic.”

For Chirac, 62, the second-place finish, while enough to keep him in the race, was a personal setback. He had been the strong front-runner for two months, according to dozens of opinion polls, which had Jospin and Balladur fighting for second place.

Chirac’s campaign has centered on vague promises to reduce the jobless rate and stimulate the economy. But he has spent much of his time trying to change his image as an aggressive, hotheaded, old-school politician--an effort that appeared to have failed. His 20% of the vote was about the same as he polled in his last two, unsuccessful presidential races. In 1981, that percentage had not been enough to even get him into the final runoff.

Chirac appeared subdued Sunday night, saying the vote reflected “the state of disquiet and doubt that afflicts so many in France today.” But he asked for the vote of “all the patriots of France, the people who hope for profound change, who want to reduce unemployment and liberate the French love of life.”

Despite his second-place finish, however, Chirac appears in a stronger position than Jospin as the final, two-week campaign begins.

The conservative coalition still controls 80% of the seats in the National Assembly, and that conservative streak remains strong among French voters.

Together, the four conservative and far-right candidates won nearly 60% of the vote Sunday. Chirac may have to strike a deal with Le Pen to hold on to nearly a quarter of those votes, but some Le Pen supporters may vote for Chirac even without their leader’s endorsement, just to prevent a Socialist victory.

Balladur was clearly unhappy with his performance Sunday. Making a nationally televised concession at his campaign headquarters an hour after the polls closed, the drawn 65-year-old snapped twice at his supporters to stop interrupting him.

Times Paris Bureau researcher Sarah White contributed to this report.