Chirac Makes It Official In France
President Jacques Chirac officially began his second term Thursday after being sworn into office in a somber, brief ceremony before his inner circle that ended with the French national anthem and a burst of cannon fire.
In contrast to his landslide re-election that sent thousands of revelers into the streets, the inauguration at the presidential palace was a low-key affair that was almost totally devoid of pageantry.
However, a new poll indicated Chirac's center-right allies are on track to outscore the left wing in crucial parliamentary elections in June.
The 15-minute ceremony began with Yves Guena, the head of France's Constitutional Council, the nation's highest judicial authority, announcing the results of the May 5 election.
Then, Chirac delivered a brief inauguration speech in which he hammered home the theme of national unity after a divisive campaign during which hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the candidacy of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
"By thwarting extremism, the French have just confirmed, reaffirmed with force, their attachment to a democratic tradition, liberty and engagement in Europe," Chirac said.
At a time of rising crime in France, Chirac also reiterated his campaign-trail pledge to tackle public insecurity. Recent polls have shown crime is a major concern for the French.
"The authority of the state must be reaffirmed. It will be — that's a major requirement of this five-year term," he said. "The action has begun, and I will be personally attached to it."
After kissing his wife, Bernadette, on the cheeks, Chirac entered the palace courtyard for the traditional inspection of the National Guard. The ceremony ended with the playing of the Marseillaise, France's national anthem.
Cannons then fired off a 21-gun salute a few miles away at the imposing landmark, Hotel National des Invalides.
The survey, by the Ipsos polling group, said the mainstream right-wing parties would win 53 percent of the second-round vote against 47 percent for the left, was tempered by continued bitter rivalries among conservatives.
The poll also registered strong minority support for Le Pen's National Front, which could upset those numbers by draining away right-wing votes and letting leftists win.
Despite the poll, Chirac allies expressed concern that the refusal of a centrist leader to join a broad right-wing party backing the president could weaken the conservative vote so much that the left could win in June.
"The risk Francois Bayrou is taking is that of making the president lose his majority," Serge Lepeltier, a senior leader of Chirac's Rally for the Republic party, told journalists.
"When you look at the situation on the ground, he is running the risk of allowing in a new cohabitation," he said of the awkward power-sharing which arises in France when voters elect a president and a parliament from different political camps.
Chirac, 69, was re-elected in an unprecedented landslide, crushing Le Pen by winning 82 percent of the vote.
In the following days, Chirac appointed a new government and launched into a flurry of activity, figuring out ways to cut taxes and dispatching hundreds of extra police to the streets to fight the crime problem.
The new measures are, at least in part, an effort to woo voters ahead of June's crucial legislative races. Chirac is determined to keep leftist parties from winning control of Parliament and avoid "cohabitation," an uncomfortable power-sharing arrangement between a president and prime minister of different political stripes.
Chirac, a conservative, already lived through five years of conflict with former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, a Socialist who was unexpectedly knocked out of the presidential race by Le Pen in the first round on April 21.
Leftist parties, however, are expected to fight tooth-and-nail in June's legislative races to avoid being shut out of power on a national scale.