Ennui overtakes polls

As France decides on its next president, there are a total of 16 candidates in the fray. Although the most popular contestants are the current President, Jacques Chirac, and the current Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, the other candidates will also affect the political scene.

This is partially because there are no substantial differences in the political programmes of the two rivals, and partially because the large selection of candidates affects the number of votes which the successful candidate will obtain.

While the third and fourth republic constitutions presented France as having a parliamentary political system with a prime minister responsible for parliament, the current fifth republic constitution proposed a more powerful president who could dissolve the parliament, present legislation directly to people through referendum, and declare emergency rule during a crisis.

According to the constitution, the president of the French republic is elected by a direct vote for a period of five years. The presidential election is conducted through a two-ballot method. To be eligible as a candidate, an applicant should obtain the written support of 500 elected representatives.

The applicant then proceeds with the first round of elections. If a candidate wins an absolute majority of votes, then this candidate becomes the president. Otherwise, those who obtain the highest score proceed to the second ballot.

Process

The election process as such starts with nominating presidential candidates. Then the presidential campaigns begin as the door to candidature closes. Opinion polls on presidential elections are prohibited until the date of the first round of presidential elections.

After this round, the votes are counted and opinion polls are permitted. The two highest scoring candidates advance to the second round and the president is elected. It is important to note that elections for the parliament will follow these presidential elections.

French people of the age group 18 and above comprise those who are legally eligible for voting. The pool of voters is estimated to be 40 million. In this present election, public opinion surveys reveal that there will be a high rate of abstention. According to some reports, it is estimated that abstention will reach approximately 40 per cent.

The large array of candidates and the similarity of the political programmes of the two main competitors have contributed to this present state of affairs. The opinion polls also confirmed this fact as they showed less than 20 per cent votes for each of the two rivals, Chirac and Jospin.

Different ideologies

The candidates have different ideologies and belong to different groups from the extreme left wing to the extreme right wing. Jacques Chirac and Christine Boutin from the United Republican Party, François Bayrou from the Union of French Democracy, and Alain Madelin from the Liberal Democracy party represent the right wing scene. Lionel Jospin from the socialist party, Robert Hue from the Communist Party, and Christiane Taubira from the Leftist Radical Party comprise the left wing.

The extreme left is formed of Olivier Besancenot from the League of Revolutionary Communism, Daniel Gluckstein from the Workers Party, Arlette Laguiller from the Workers Rights, while the extreme right is represented by Jean-Marie Le Pen from the National Front, Bruno Mégret from the Movement of National Republicans.

The Environmentalists are represented by Corinne Lepage from Citizenship Action Participation for the 21st Century and Noël Mamere from The Green Party.

Others include Jean-Pierre Chevenement from the People's Movement, Jean Saint-Josse from the Party of Hunting, Fishing, Nature and Traditions.

Parties that form the right wing have no major differences and the only thing that distinguishes them from each other and from Chirac in this presidential campaign is the way they present themselves to the public. Only Jean-Marie Le Pen has assumed a different stand with his party's racial views.

However, on the other side, Jospin and his Socialist party will compete with the Environmentalists and Communists, who have formed part of his present coalition government.

This will have an effect not only on the first round of elections but also on the second round, since the votes will be fragmented and will make for tough competition between contestants.

The United Republican Party which was founded by Chirac himself in 1976 aims at preserving the "nation state" with its nationalistic conservative view and promotion of strong law and order. As such, it is considered a representation of Neo-Gaullism. There are two factions in this party - one that is fundamentalist in its applications and the other more relaxed.

The struggle between the two surfaced, for example, at the time of the Maastricht treaty ratification as the pragmatic group accepted the idea of European integration while the fundamentalists viewed a national France. With respect to the economic field, the Party has retreated from extreme liberalism.

The former president of France, the late Francois Mitterrand, unified the parties of the socialist leaders, Jean Jaures and Leone Blum, to form The Socialist Party. This party first came to power in 1981 and, in 1995, Jospin assumed its leadership. With the collapse of the socialist countries, the socialist party changed its stand and relaxed the idea of state intervention in the economic arena, accepting the benefits of the market economy theory. Furthermore, the party supports European integration.

Political programmes

The similarity of Jospin and Chirac's political programmes is attributed to the shifts in the basic principles of both the Socialist Party and the United Republican Party, particularly with respect to the economic sector.

Hence, in this campaign, while Chirac promises to reduce income tax by 33 per cent and the accommodation tax by five per cent, Jospin promises to reduce accommodation tax by 50 per cent and to offer low-income workers financial allowances.

Moreover, regarding unemployment, Chirac offers financial facilities and tax exemptions for young people to encourage their entrance into the labour force and to increase the number of enterprises to one million in five years. He also maintains the working hours at 35 hours per week as set by Jospin's current government.

On the other hand, Jospin says that he intends to reduce the unemployment rate by creating more jobs within the next five years and to assist those above the age of 50 to re-join the labour force.

Rising crime

Both Chirac and Jospin oppose the idea of entrusting the financing of pension to private companies. Therefore, not many of the French people see this policy as having an effect on their lives, hence both contestants are unanimous on this score.

Consequently, Le Pen of the National Front has emerged as the third most popular candidate on the elections scene. To do this, he tried to tone down many of his racist remarks, focus on the problem of rising crime and the alleged decline of France. The polls also show that Jean-Pierre Cheven-ement from the People's M