Chirac facing new challenge

After five years in office, Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin handed in his resignation today, a widely expected step that clears the way for Chirac to name a successor from within the ranks of conservatives.

The new Chirac-appointed government will serve at least until national legislative elections next month.

Chirac won with votes from the left as well as his mainstream right, portending a tough fight in the parliamentary elections that will prove the test of his real power. Chirac had the lowest score of an incumbent president in the April 21 first-round vote when Le Pen stunned the nation with his second-place showing.

Chirac, 69, of the Gaullist Rally for the Republic party, could name a new prime minister as early as today to replace Jospin, who also ran for president but was knocked out of the race by Le Pen.

‘‘I heard and I understood your call (to ensure) that the Republic lives, that the nation rallies together, that politics change,’’ Chirac said in a victory speech, acknowledging the contribution of the left and the groundswell of discontent that led to an ‘‘exceptional’’ election.

Liberation newspaper’s front page today showed a tiny photo of Le Pen retreating, under an enormous one-word headline: ‘‘Phew!’’

Le Figaro’s front page featured a picture of a beaming Chirac under the headline ‘‘The immense victory’’.

With more than 99% of the vote counted, the abstention rate was 19% percent compared to a record 28% in the first round.

The turnout attested to the mobilization of the electorate in a two-week period of anti-Le Pen protests that culminated on Wednesday, May Day, when more than a million people marched across France.

The 73-year-old Le Pen, accused of being racist and anti-Semitic, blasted the ‘‘morbid coalition’’ of right and left that joined in an unprecedented block to defeat him.

‘‘The political conditions under which the second round was held were those of a totalitarian country,’’ Le Pen said, referring to the banding together of politicians, unions and leaders in numerous fields to work toward his defeat.

The far-right leader’s support was strong in the south east, an area that has become home to a large immigrant population. He won more than 27% of the votes in that region.

Le Pen, who said last week he would consider any score under 30% a failure, vowed to take his revenge in June 9 and 16 legislative elections with his anti-immigration National Front party.

France, in shock two weeks ago, was an ebullient nation on Sunday night.

‘‘I feel proud again to be French,’’ said Heloise Hammer, 32, having a drink in a bar near the Champs-Elysees. She voted for the Greens party candidate, Noel Mamere, in the first round but was comforted by Chirac’s victory, ‘‘a clear rejection of the extreme right and of fascism’’.

The outcome also assuaged France’s allies.

‘‘The French people have once again demonstrated that their nation belongs to the heart of Europe,’’ European Commission President Romano Prodi said in Brussels.

‘‘We celebrate the Republic,’’ Chirac, flush with victory, told a crowd of cheering supporters at the Place de la Republique. ‘‘It refused to cede to the temptation of intolerance and demagogy.’’

Le Pen’s National Front, founded in 1972, has been a thorn in the side of the mainstream right since its strong showing in 1984 European elections.

Now, all eyes were turned to next month’s parliamentary vote, called the ‘‘third round’’ by the left.

At the Place de la Bastille, some 5,000 leftists gathered then marched to the Left Bank to cries of ‘‘Le Pen, we got you. Chirac, we’ll get you.’’

The worst scenario for Chirac, with a five-year mandate, would be a failure to obtain a majority of the right in the parliamentary vote, forcing him to share power with the left and crippling his ability to act.

Many blame his five years of tense power-sharing with Jospin for the unusual presidential vote, which featured 16 candidates in the first round, seen as a clear sign of French discontent.