Raffarin survives to form new French govt
French President Jacques Chirac decided today to keep his prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, but told him to form a new government after a crushing defeat in regional elections.
Chirac’s office said Raffarin tendered the government’s resignation and that the president accepted it.
“He then named Jean-Pierre Raffarin prime minister and charged him with forming a new government,” said a presidential statement.
The makeup of the new government is to be announced tomorrow and the new Cabinet will meet on Friday morning, Chirac’s office said.
The Cabinet reshuffle had been expected in the wake of Sunday’s local elections that saw the opposition left make spectacular gains, midway through Chirac’s five-year term as president.
The announcement that Raffarin was being retained as prime minister put an end to mounting speculation that he would be sacked.
The announcement came after Chirac received Raffarin at his presidential Elysee Palace.
Conservative politicians and members of the administration have said there will be no let-up in the government’s contested programme of economic reforms.
But pundits expect the new Cabinet will have ministers charged with paying greater attention to social issues – a response to critics of the government’s reforms of pensions and the health system, and unemployment running at close to 10%.
