Alternate France

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1988 Presidential Election: Candidacies

The next presidential election, seven years after the 1981 election of Mitterrand, was scheduled for April 24 and May 8, 1988. After uneasy times and the economic crisis from 1981 to 1986, the PS lost the 1986 elections and the RPR-UDF formed the government with Jacques Chirac (RPR). Mitterrand saw his approval ratings jump, over 60% for some, during the first cohabitation. His position in the 1988 election was now, more than ever, good.

Socialist nomination

The incumbent François Mitterrand was very likely to run for re-election. However, he delayed his official statement on the election until January 1988, at which time he announced his candidacy for a second term. Under the leadership of Lionel Jospin, the PS had voted to adopt a national two-round primary system to select its candidate. However, due to time and organizational constraints, the PS decided in late 1987 to hold only a convention; a national primary would be held for the 1995 election.

At the National Convention of the PS in January 1988, held in Toulouse, Mitterrand received the support of the party leadership, as the only candidate. At the convention, Mitterrand expressed his desire for unity, not only on the left, but throughout the spectrum. Michel Crépeau, the 1981 Left Radical candidate, announced his immediate support for Mitterrand.

RPR nomination

The leader of the RPR, Prime Minister, and Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac announced his candidacy only days before President Mitterrand.

Unlike in 1981, he faced no dissidence within the Gaullist movement.

UDF nomination

The UDF was divided into two factions over the 1988 election. A majority supported the idea of an independent UDF candidacy with either Raymond Barre (UDF) or a "revenge candidacy" of former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (UDF-PR). A minority supported the Chirac candidacy. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing declined to run, but announced his return to national politics via the National Assembly.

Raymond Barre, former Prime Minister and an independent centrist, was selected by a vote of all component parties of the UDF as its candidate. Barre received the support of 51% of the CPR, 69% of the PSD, 100% of the CDS, 67% of the Radicals, and 93% of the PR.

PCF nominations

Georges Marchais, whose media presence had declined since 1981, declined to run. He supported the candidacy of the PCF deputy from the Allier, André Lajoinie, whose candidacy was confirmed the leadership of the PCF in early 1988.

Pierre Juquin, a "reformist" within the Communist Party, decided to run for an alliance of dissident communists, trotskysts, and eco-socialists. He received the support of the remaining parts of the PSU and the Trotskyst LCR. However, Juquin failed to obtain the 500 endorsements required, as a result of Lajoinie's efforts with mayors and other endorsers to prevent the Juquin candidacy. However, Juquin refused to endorse Lajoinie in public.

Other candidacies

After failing to run in 1974 and 1981 (for lack of endorsements), Jean-Marie Le Pen, FN leader and FN deputy from Paris, decided to try for a third time. Despite his controversial remarks, Le Pen won enough endorsements to become the first FN candidate to run in a presidential election. After his party polled over 10% in 1986, he hoped that his fame would lead the FN to a new level of support.

After his UNF-CNIP list polled surprisingly well in the 1986 legislative election, Jean Royer received pressure to run for a third time as the UNF candidate. At first he declined, but after reconsideration he announced he would run for a third and final time for the presidency under the colours of the UNF. The UNF's 1986 ally, the CNIP, retracted their previous endorsement of the RPR candidate Jacques Chirac, and endorsed Jean Royer for the UNF.

The Alsatian Green Party leader, Antoine Waechter, was selected unanimously by the Green Party as the party's first candidate in a presidential election and as the third ecologist candidate.

On the far-left, Arlette Laguiller ran for a third consecutive time as the candidate of Workers' Struggle (LO) and Pierre Boussel surprisingly won enough endorsements to be the candidate for the far-left Lambertist MPPT.

The first polls indicated a twenty point lead for Mitterrand over his two closest rivals, Barre and Chirac, who were tied at 20% each.

Sofres Poll for Le Figaro (February 3, 1988)
François Mitterrand (PS) 40%
Raymond Barre (UDF) 20%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 20%
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) 10%
André Lajoinie (PCF) 6.5%
Jean Royer (UNF-CNIP) 2%
Arlette Laguiller (LO) 1%
Antoine Waechter (Greens) 0.5%

According to the Sofres study, Mitterrand also took the votes of nearly 20% of PCF voters by the first round. Chirac's numbers were deceiving after two years at the head of the French government. He rallied only RPR voters, and took barely 15% of UDF voters.

[Хahar 🤔]

Georges Marchais doesn't become president?

BTW, Wikipedia has no article on Jean Royer. Please rectify this injustice immediately.

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BTW, Wikipedia has no article on Jean Royer. Please rectify this injustice immediately.

Horrible! No article on Him?

It will be done.

[Хahar 🤔]

BTW, Wikipedia has no article on Jean Royer. Please rectify this injustice immediately.

Horrible! No article on Him?

It will be done.

So it must.

[Hash]

It is done.

[Хahar 🤔]

It is done.

Amen.

[Хahar 🤔]

If you add some inline citations in the next two days, you can put Jean Royer on the Main Page.

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The 1988 Presidential Election: Campaign

Mitterrand was about 20 points ahead of both Chirac and Barre during most of the campaign, The race for second, however, captivated voters' attention: two well known politicians and two Prime Ministers fought it out. For Chirac and Pasqua however, Chirac needed to be in the runoff and finish off Barre by the first round.

Throughout February and March 1988, Chirac led a smear campaign against Barre and attacked the UDF candidate on his poor record in office, and his relative inexperience (he had been out of national office for seven years by 1988) and inability to assume the Presidential office competently. Chirac, who had run in 1981 as the candidate of the Gaullist, nationalist, and Reagan-like right, changed his portrait to a moderate right-wing candidate, with experience as his main campaign theme. Despite accusations on his right of pandering to the centre, Chirac's strategy worked and by March, his ratings with UDF and centrist voters rose. Despite the smear campaign, by March 3, the two candidates were still in a statistical tie. Mitterrand remained by far ahead.

Sofres Poll for Le Figaro (March 3, 1988)
François Mitterrand (PS) 38%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 21%
Raymond Barre (UDF) 20%
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) 10%
André Lajoinie (PCF) 7.5%
Jean Royer (UNF-CNIP) 2%
Antoine Waechter (Greens) 1%
Arlette Laguiller (LO) 0.5%

Mitterrand continued riding high throughout March, staying high above the dirty campaign on the right. Pasqua continued the RPR attacks on Raymond Barre, and Pasqua used his status as Minister of the Interior, a position in which he gained immense popularity from the right and hatred from the left, to portray the experience of the Chirac executive team. By April however, the attacks had clearly weakened Barre. In the April 3 Sofres poll, Barre collapsed to barely 15% while Chirac jumped to 24%.

On the far-right, Le Pen, whose party had obtained surprising yet worrying results in past elections, hoped to win the top FN electoral result yet. He led a nationalist, conservative, and traditionalist campaign. He positioned himself strongly against immigration, and declared his intentions to hold a referendum on the re-establishment of the death penalty if elected. His campaign was also anti-European, a theme which he shared with Jean Royer.

From his first campaign in 1971, Royer's themes had evolved with time. In 1988, he still stood as the candidate of moral order, but immigration and Europe took a bigger role. Abortion, legal since 1975, was now a non-issue in the minds of voters. The days of large political debate about sexual matters and pornography were dying down. His campaign sought to get national-conservatives voters from the FN and also traditional Gaullist eurosceptics from the RPR.

André Lajoinie polled below 10%, an awful result for a Communist. He was still hurt by the failed Pierre Juquin candidacy (which failed to win the 500 endorsements) and the fact that Mitterrand had succeeded in attracting numerous Communist voters into his ranks by the first round. Lajoinie attempted to attract the former PCF and Marchais voters "back home". That strategy had some success, but his poll ratings showed little movement.

The last poll of the campaign, released on April 21, two days before the April 23 first round, gave Mitterrand a decisive advantage.

Sofres Poll for Le Figaro (April 21, 1988)
François Mitterrand (PS) 36%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 22%
Raymond Barre (UDF) 16%
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) 10%
André Lajoinie (PCF) 9%
Jean Royer (UNF-CNIP) 4%
Antoine Waechter (Greens) 2%
Arlette Laguiller (LO) 1%

[Хahar 🤔]

Lajoinie/Royer for President!

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1988 Presidential Election Results

38 million votes were called to vote on April 24, 1988 in the Fifth Republic's fifth Presidential election. The Socialist incumbent, François Mitterrand faced his Prime Minister, the Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac (RPR) and other candidates, including the centrist Raymond Barre and the nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen. At 20:00, main television broadcasters estimated abstention at 18% (+0.15%).

Election Results
Abstention: 19.63%
Voting: 80.37%
Blank and Void: 2.35%

François Mitterrand (PS) 34.99%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 19.11%
Raymond Barre (UDF) 16.32%
Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) 13.16%
André Lajoinie (PCF) 8.01%
Jean Royer (UNF-CNIP) 4.21%
Antoine Waechter (Verts) 3.11%
Arlette Laguiller (LO) 0.96%
Pierre Boussel (MPPT) 0.13%

The polls had been, in most cases, correct, to the detriment of Barre. Mitterrand came out strongly, with a 15.88% lead over Chirac. With 34.99%, he more than doubled his 1981 result, despite a Communist candidate, André Lajoinie. The Lajoinie candidacy was a total disaster. With barely 8%, the result represented the worst score ever for the party in any national election since World War II. The PCF had collapsed to single digits, and Mitterrand had achieved his long-time goal of reducing the PCF, thus imposing his party as the party of the left. On the right, Jacques Chirac and Charles Pasqua's smear campaign against Barre paid off. Chirac, despite polling below 20% and minimally better than in 1981, was qualified for the runoff. Barre had failed to be the second man of the election. But the RPR and UDF fight had left scars on the alliance. With 13.2%, Le Pen obtained a result superior to his party's 1986 and 1984 results, and 3% more than what the polls had given him. He had imposed to the FN as a major political player, and certainly not to the liking of the established parties. Royer had failed in his attempt to exceed the 1986 result of his party. He lost 0.01% compared to his 1974 run, but he polled 0.2% less than what the UNF had polled in 1986. CNIP voters, which provided the conservative party's base in 1986, preferred Chirac or Le Pen over the Mayor of Tours in 1988. Waechter defied polls too, but not to the extent he wished. With 3.11%, the ecologist movement had lost over 1% compared to 1981. The far-left was reduced to crumbs, with Laguiller's third candidacy polling its worst result ever, below 1%. Pierre Boussel, candidate of the tiny Trot MPPT, polled 0.13%, and got the dubious honour of polling the lowest result of any first round candidate since 1965.


Analysis of the First Round

Electorates

Among young voters, Mitterrand trounced Chirac, who came fourth behind Barre and Le Pen. Mitterrand also won all other age groups, even the traditionally right-wing seniors. Chirac did horribly with younger voters, often coming in third or fourth, but did better with older voters (his top result was 28% with seniors).

Farmers preferred Chirac over Mitterrand, in 1981 they had preferred Giscard in both rounds. Artisans voted for Chirac, with Le Pen polling a strong second with 21%. Le Pen's success here reminds of the success of his far-right mentor Pierre Poujade in the same category in 1956. Mitterrand won all other categories, with traditionally Communist workers provided him with his best result, polling 43%. Le Pen polled 16% with workers, and Chirac polled only 9%, in fourth place.

Mitterrand, Chirac, Barre, Le Pen, and Lajoinie won the voters identifying with their respective parties. With Socialists, Mitterrand pulled 79%. With Communists, Lajoinie pulled 69% and Mitterrand took a very important share of Communist voters. Ecologists supported Waechter with 47%, but 19% of ecologists voted for Mitterrand by the first round. Chirac won RPR voters with 65%, with Royer and Le Pen polling in the double digits with RPR voters, likely the most conservative RPR supporters. UDF voters voted for their candidate 64-22 against Chirac, who had nonetheless pulled a respectable result there.

Geography



Mitterrand's large margin in the first round gave the map a very pinkish look. In fact, he won, either convincingly or as a result of the split of the right, all but four of France's metropolitan departments. He acheived his best results in the Socialist southwest and also in the industrial Nord, Picardie, and part of Haute-Normandie. He also did well in his home Nièvre department, and the Centre region.

Chirac won only four departments: his home Corrèze; the very Catholic and right-wing Cantal; the traditionally Gaullist Corse-du-Sud; and the city of Paris, where he served as Mayor. He narrowly lost the right-wing stronghold of Lozère by a handful of votes. Overall, he did well in his home Limousin, the Aveyron (in addition to Cantal and Lozère), the Pays de la Loire, and western Ile-de-France.

Barre won no departments but did best in the traditionally Christian democratic regions of Bretagne, Alsace, parts of Rhône-Alpes, southern Auvergne, Lozère, Haute-Loire, and other departments. Jean Royer failed to win his stronghold of Indre-et-Loire, but still came a strong second with around 32% of the votes, a result which was 5% lower than his 1974 result. However, he won his constituency convincingly. Was his department getting weary of his authoritarian leadership and his long-time political domination?

Le Pen achieved his best results in the PACA region, where a high density of pieds-noirs provided him and the FN with a strong base. Lajoinie polled "well", but still much lower than Communists did in the past, in Communist regions such as Allier, Nord, Bouches-du-Rhône, and other departments. In his home department, Allier, he polled 18%. 

[Хahar 🤔]

Blue Paris surrounded by pink. That's really weird. Heh.

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The 1988 Presidential Election: Two Weeks

Mitterrand came out of the first round as originally expected: in great shape for the runoff. His challenger, Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, was 15% behind him, but Chirac could potentially count on a large reserve, the Barre voters, but also Le Pen voters.

Mitterrand, however, remained far ahead in polls. He benefited from the endorsements of Lajoinie (PCF), Laguiller (LO), and Boussel (MPPT). While remaining neutral personally, most of the Waechter voters flowed logically to the Socialist candidate. Chirac received the endorsement of Royer (UNF) and very reluctantly, that of Raymond Barre (UDF), who nonetheless did not actively join the Chirac campaign. Le Pen, whose 13.2% of votes represented a large and non-negligible chunk of the votes, called on his voters to abstain. According to polls, 20% would do so, but 60% would support Chirac.

Sofres Poll (April 27, 1988)
François Mitterrand (PS) 56%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 44%

On April 28, the presidential debate between President and Prime Minister was held, moderated by Elie Vannier and Michèle Cotta. The two clashed over their attitudes and responses to the 1986 terrorist attacks. Chirac tried to portray himself as the candidate of law and order, but Mitterrand held the upper hand in the debate, despite appearing as arrogant and answering dryly.

Mitterrand remained steady in opinion polls, with voting intentions fluctuating between 56% and 54%. In addition, nearly 75% of respondents said that Mitterrand would win.


That's all. Runoff tomorrow.

[Хahar 🤔]

Wow. I hope there won't be any surprises.

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The 1988 Presidential Election: Runoff

Two weeks after the first round, 38 million French citizens returned to the polls to vote in the runoff the Presidential ballot, which opposed the President, François Mitterrand, and his Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac. Mitterrand maintained a massive lead in polls throughout the campaign, but both his campaign and Chirac's campaign feared the results that high abstention could produce. However, their fears were assuaged with an abstention of only 16% (-3.63% over 1988-R1, +1.77% over 1981-R2).

Election Results
Abstention: 16.17%
Voting: 83.83%
Blank and Void: 3.89%

François Mitterrand (PS) 56.12%
Jacques Chirac (RPR) 43.88%

With 56% of the vote, Mitterrand soundly defeated Jacques Chirac and obtained a majority (12.24%) much larger than his majority in 1981 (4.04%).

Mitterrand won both men and women (55% and 57% respectively), and all age groups except seniors, which narrowly preferred Chirac, 51-49. Mitterrand made significant gains everywhere. While losing largely to Chirac among farmers, artisans, and those in "intellectual professions", he won large margins in all other categories, his largest being 70% support with workers. He won 97 out of 100 PCF and 99 out of 100 PS voters. Greens voted for him with 63%. Chirac won UDF, and RPR voted with over 90% and FN voters with over 80%. Around 79% of Barre voters in the first round voted for the RPR candidate in the runoff. Only 63% of Le Pen voters voted for Chirac in the runoff (many FN voters abstained).



The map of France was one of the "reddest" maps ever seen in French political history. Mitterrand won all metropolitan departments with the exception of only nine departments. In about twenty departments, he broke 60% (his best result was 66.7% in Pas-de-Calais). These departments were in the Radical southwest (in addition to the very secular Lot), in the "red Limousin" and surrounding departments, the Communist Allier, his home Nièvre (66%), the Côtes-du-Nord (the Socialist stronghold of Bretagne), Sarthe, and most departments of the industrial Nord and Picardie. He also broke 60% in Meurthe-et-Moselle, which has an important mining industry in the north.

Even in traditionally right-wing areas, Mitterrand made important gains. His biggest gains compared to 1974 came from Ille-et-Vilaine (where Giscard broke 60% in 1974), which he won with 56%. He also gained massively in Alsace, Bretagne, and large parts of the conservative Pays-de-la-Loire.

Chirac lost his own department, even though it was considered a stronghold for him. His only victories came from the Catholic departments of the Cantal and Lozère, the conservative Var, Alpes-Maritimes (where he got his largest victory, with 57% of the vote) and Haute-Savoie. In the Parisian region, he won the city of Paris proper narrowly, benefiting from a strong favourite son factor. He also won the conservative Yvelines and Vendée. He narrowly lost the Manche, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, and Haute-Loire despite their status as traditionally right-leaning departments.

On May 12, Mitterrand nominated Michel Rocard (PS) to form a government and dissolved the right-wing National Assembly on May 14. Mitterrand hoped for a repeat of 1981 at the ballot boxes.

[Хahar 🤔]

This is quite possibly the most realistic TL on the forum.

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The 1988 Legislative Election

French voters were called to vote again in June, this time to elect their deputies to the National Assembly. However, the 1988 elections were different in that the system was changed back to the pre-1986 two round majority vote, and that 577 constituencies were drawn to replace the old constituencies, in existence since 1958. Most deputies elected on party lists in 1986 sought election in the constituency representing their area.

A month or so after Mitterrand's landslide re-election victory, the Socialist Party had as its objective a repeat of 1981- where the PS won a majority all by itself, without needing to rely on Communist support. The PCF, which had suffered a major blow with just 8% of the vote for its candidate André Lajoinie, the objective was to save as much seats as possible (with 30 seats being their stated objective). On the right, the RPR-UDF had little chance to win another coalition victory against the left, so the main goal for the two parties was to form a strong opposition with much more seats than in 1981. The new RPR-UDF alliance took up the name Union du Rassemblement et du Centre (URC). As for Royer's UNF, the four CNIP incumbents had decided to run under the much safer RPR etiquette in their bids for re-election, therefore only four UNF incumbents had seats to defend, including Royer in Tours. The "new old" system meant that the FN had little chance to win any seats. The party decided to run candidates in almost all constituencies and maintain all candidates qualified for the runoff in the runoff. The FN had nonetheless attempted to make a runoff deal with the RPR-UDF coalition, stimulating that the RPR-UDF candidate would drop out if the FN had come out on top of the two parties, or the reverse. The RPR and UDF rejected dealing with the FN. A similar deal was made again between PS and PCF. The PS was seen as the main benefactor of this.

Final polls showed that the left had a big advantage, but the left was significantly lower than in 1981.

Sofres Poll (June 2, 1988)
URC 35%
DVD 3%
UNF 2%
Right 40%
PS-MRG 39%
PCF 9%
DVG 1%
EXG 0.5%
Left 49.5%
FN 10%
Ecologists 0.5%

Abstention broke 34% on the first round, and fell minimally to 31% on runoff day. Unfortunately for the left, most non-voters came from their ranks. The URC and PS were about tied on election day, with 37% each. The PCF defied the polls, and polled 11%. The FN won only 9.6%, a big deception for the party after Le Pen's excellent result in the presidential election. Royer's UNF took a significant thumping at the polls, and fell from 4.42% to barely 1.9% of the vote.

The pink wave did not strike the seats of the National Assembly. The PS did not win a parliamentary majority on its own, and a new situation came up. Finally, Michel Rocard decided on the participation of some centrists from the UDF, 40 of which formed a Union Centriste group in the Assembly to assure the left a workable majority. Some UDF members joined the government. The PCF, with 29 seats, was one seat short of being able to form a group. Finally, the threshold for forming a group fell to 20 by September and a 29 member PCF group was formed then. One FN deputy was re-elected, Yann Piat, in the Var, who subsequently joined the UDF-PR. Piat had fallen out with Le Pen's ideas and leadership.

PS 258 (+61)
PCF 29 (-21)
MRG 10 (+7)
Other left 6 (+4)
Left: 304 (+51)
RPR 128 (-25)¹
UDF 126 (+11)
Other right 16 (+4)
UNF 2 (-2)
Right: 272 (-12)
FN 1 (-39)


Major Results (only candidates polling over 10% included)

Yvelines 7th: Conflans
Rocard (PS) 55%
Rebreyen (UDF) 45%

Corrèze 3rd: Ussel _{first round}
Chirac (RPR) 57.68%
Bourzai (PS) 23.14%
Audouin (PCF) 16.89%
Others 2.29%

Puy-de-Dôme 3rd: Chamalières _{first round}
Giscard d'Estaing (UDF) 58.7%
Bardot (PS) 30.6%
Others 10.7%

Val-de-Marne 11th: Villejuif
Marchais (PCF) 65.75%
Dubreuil (RPR) 34.25%

Charente-Maritime 1st: La Rochelle
Crépeau (MRG) 56%
Harel (RPR) 44%

Indre-et-Loire 1st: Tours _{first round}
Royer (UNF) 50.09%
Germain (PS) 32.91%
Others 17.1%

Bouches-du-Rhone 8th: Marseille-11th
Masse (PS) 55.05%
Le Pen (FN) 44.95%

¹ The 1986 RPR data is the sum of all 149 RPR MPs and 4 CNIP MPs elected on the UNF list that subsequently affiliated with the RPR.

[Хahar 🤔]

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The Mitterrand Presidency 1988-1990

Following the legislative elections, Michel Rocard handed his resignation to Mitterrand, and was promptly re-nominated to form a second government. With the PS having only a plurality of seats and the Communists continuing to refuse to participate in the Rocard government, Rocard opened his cabinet to certain centrists.

Major cabinet posts, as of June 23, 1988:

Prime Minister: Michel Rocard (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of National Education, Youth, and Sports: Lionel Jospin (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of Economy, Finances: Pierre Bérégovoy (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister for Equipment and Housing: Maurice Faure (MRG)
Minister of State, and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Roland Dumas (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of the Public Function and Administrative Reforms: Michel Durafour (UDF-Rad)
Minister of the Interior: Pierre Joxe (PS)
Minister of Defense: Jean-Pierre Chevènement (PS)
Minister of Justice: Pierre Arpaillange (Ind)
Minister of European Affairs: Edith Cresson (PS)
Minister of Cooperation: Jacques Pelletier (UDF-Rad)
Minister of Employment, Labour and Personal Formation: Jean-Pierre Soisson (UDF-PR)
Minister of Culture and Communications: Jack Lang (PS)

Other ministers included Roger Fauroux (Ind) in Industry, Michel Delebarre (PS) in Transportation, Jean-Marie Rausch (UDF) in International Trade. Also noteworthy is the entry of Brice Lalonde (Green) as Secretary of State for Ecology. Former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius (PS) won the Presidency of the National Assembly.

On June 26, the Matignon Accords of 1988 were signed by Jean-Marie Tjibaou (Kanak nationalist) and loyalist leader Jacques Lafleur, ending the conflict in New Caledonia between nationalist and loyalists (pro-French). The Matignon Accords planned a 10-year development period, with economic guarantees to the Kanak people, before a re-negotiation in 1998, where further discussions on possible independence could be held. On November 6, a referendum on the Matignon Accords was held. The PS, PCF, MRG, and UDF were in favour, with only the FN opposed. However, the RPR called on abstention. The accords were easily ratified with 80% voting in favour, but only 36.9% turnout. In addition, blank and void votes represented nearly 12% of the totals.

On September 25 and October 2, cantonal elections were held. Being the third election in less than a year, voters abstained en-masse. Abstention broke 50% and the results were marked by very little changes.

On November 30, the Assembly adopted the RMI (revenu minimum d'insertion), creating a minimum income for over 570,000 poorer households in France.

Mitterrand and Rocard entered 1989 with positive approval ratings, hovering slightly above and below the 60% line. In the March 12 and 19 municipal elections, the left made important gains, with cities like Strasbourg, Dunkerque, Quimper, Blois, Orléans, and Aix-en-Provence swinging from right to left. The right gained only Amiens, Laon, and Saint-Malo. Chirac repeated his 1983 sweep of all Paris sectors, but the PS did likewise in Marseille. The Greens and ecologists made important gains.

On May 4, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, leader of the Kanak nationalist FLNKS, was assassinated in New Caledonia by a Kanak extremist.

Attention turned to the June 18, 1989 European elections. The UDF and RPR led a common list once again under the leadership of former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (UDF), but Simone Veil led an independent Europhile list, opposed to the union with the RPR. Laurent Fabius led the PS list, Philippe Herzog led the PCF list, Jean-Marie Le Pen led the FN list, and Antoine Waechter led the Green list. The UNF did not field a list. Polls indicated a close race between the government and the opposition, both lists about tied between 28% and 26%. Veil's list ranged from 13% to 10% in voting intentions, like the Greens and the FN. On election night, the RPR-UDF list won 28%, while the PS won 25%. The Greens made a huge breakthrough, winning a record 12% of the vote, while Veil won only 10%. The FN won 11% and the PCF won only 8%.

The composition of the French delegation to the European parliament:

UDF-RPR 25 (-16)
PS 22 (+2)
Greens 10 (+10)
FN 9 (-)
UDFd 8 (+8)
PCF 7 (-4)

On September 24, indirect Senatorial elections to renew a third of the seats were held. The MRG rejoined the Radical group, renamed Rassemblement Démocratique et Européen (Democratic and European Rally, RDE).

RPR 90 (+17)
UC 67 (-1)
PS 68 (+4)
UREI 54 (-1)
RDE 24 (-10)¹
PCF 16 (-2)
UNF 1 (-5)
Non-affiliated 2 (-)

In a December 3 by-election in the Dreux constituency, the FN re-entered the National Assembly (the party had no seats since Yann Piat, elected as an FN candidate in 1988, crossed the floor to the UDF-PR) with the election of Marie-France Stirbois as deputy for Dreux.

In December, the UNF, Jean Royer's personal machine, held an extraordinary Congress to address the party's rout in recent elections. Jean Royer, who had moderated his positions on social issues, such as abortion, called on the party to become the party of the nationalist right, to fill the space between the RPR and the FN. His motion, which was adopted with 99% in favour, transformed the UNF into a primarily eurosceptic and nationalist party, with the emphasis on European affairs and other hot topics, such as immigration. However, some within the party started to rebel, silently, against Royer's authoritarian leadership.

Approval ratings by January 1990:

Mitterrand: Approve 55% Disapprove 43%
Rocard: Approve 57% Disapprove 40%

¹ Compared to the 1986 Democratic Left (26) and MRG ( totals

[Хahar 🤔]

Weird ratings.

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Weird ratings.

How so?

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The Mitterrand Presidency 1990-1992

In early January 1990, the National Assembly voted the Joxe Law, after hours of back-and-forth debate and right-wing attempts at a filibuster. The Joxe Law on Immigration, named after the Socialist Minister of the Interior, Pierre Joxe (PS), relaxed the immigration regulations imposed by the precedent Pasqua Laws. In particular, immigrants saw their rights increased and received further judicial protection.

On the international scene, Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called together on the creation of a European Union, with further unification of European co-operation and infrastructures. In late June 1990, Mitterrand, speaking in La Baule, Loire-Atlantique, called on democratic developments in Africa, after the recent democratic developments in Communist Eastern Europe. In addition, Mitterrand announced to African leaders that humanitarian aid would be subject to democratic developments in the respective countries. A semblance of democracy would spark up in numerous African nations throughout 1990 and 1991.

On the political scene, the Socialist Congress in Rennes, in March, saw a major split between factions and a bloody race. Pierre Mauroy was re-elected as PS leader, narrowly. The Jospin-Mauroy-Mermaz motion defeated the Mitterrandiste Fabius motion by a handful of votes.  However, the RPR was not untouched by division. In the February RPR Congress, the eurosceptic Séguin-Pasqua line took 31%, a relative success, against the winning pro-European Chirac-Juppé line.

Led by Jean-Pierre Soisson (UDF-PR), the Minister of Employment, Labour and Personal Formation; the centrist supporters of the Rocard government decided to create a centrist political party that would support Rocard's government and the Presidential Majority. In early March, Soisson and Jean-Marie Rausch, two centrist Ministers in the Rocard government, created the France Ensemble (FE) movement, a temporary movement to unite pro-government centrists. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the President of the UDF, criticized Soisson's movement.

In internal policy, the government voted, in June 1990, the reform of the PTT (Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones), separating the PTT into two separate societies: La Poste and France Télécom.

In December 1990, the undersea English Channel (Manche) Tunnel linking the United Kingdom and France was finally completed.

In the wake of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, France joined other nations, notably the United States, in a declaration of war against Iraq. On January 16, President Mitterrand announced that France had gone to war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly 20,000 French troops were sent to the Persian Gulf region, in a move that angered some, including some within the government. In early January, various movements staged anti-war protests in Paris. On January 29th, Jean-Pierre Chevènement (PS), Minister of Defense, resigned in protest.

In April 1991, doctor and journalist Anne-Marie Casteret published an article in a magazine proving that a government institution knowingly distributed blood products contaminated with AIDS to haemophiliacs between 1984 and 1985. On May 5, in the wake of the contaminated blood scandal, Mitterrand decided to change Prime Minister. In replacement of Michel Rocard, in office since Mitterrand's 1988 re-election, Edith Cresson was appointed the first woman Prime Minister of France. However, with the exception of Soisson, all centrist Ministers left the government.

Major cabinet posts, as of May 6, 1991:

Prime Minister: Edith Cresson (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of National Education: Lionel Jospin (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Roland Dumas (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of the Public Function and Administrative Reforms: Jean-Pierre Soisson (FE)
Minister of State, and Minister of the City: Michel Delebarre (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of Economy, Finances: Pierre Bérégovoy (PS)
Minister of the Interior: Philippe Marchand (PS)
Minister of Defense: Pierre Joxe (PS)
Minister of Justice: Henri Nallet (PS)
Minister of European Affairs: Elisabeth Guigou (PS)
Minister of Cooperation and Development: Edwige Avice (PS)
Minister of Employment, Labour and Personal Formation: Martine Aubry (PS)
Minister of Culture and Communications: Jack Lang (PS)
Minister of the Environment: Brice Lalonde (Green)

Compared at first to Margaret Thatcher, Cresson made several verbal gaffes: she compared British people to homosexuals and Japanese people to ants.

Cresson's popularity took a nose-dive. Mitterrand also suffered, and his disapproval rating rose to be higher than his approval rating by October 1991. By late October, the contaminated blood scandal continued to make headlines, and soon the PS was hit by a party financing scandal.

Approval ratings by January 1992:

Mitterrand: Disapprove 64% Approve 32%
Cresson: Disapprove 70% Approve 25%

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The 1992 Regional and Cantonal Elections

In early January, on the occasion of the PS Congress, Laurent Fabius replaced Pierre Mauroy as leader of the PS. One year prior, Fabius had led a motion opposing Mauroy's motion at the infamous Rennes Congress. Preferring his party responsibilities, Fabius stepped down from the National Assembly's Presidency and was replaced by Henri Emmanuelli (PS). Fabius presided over the Urba affair, concerning illegal financing of the PS.

Early 1992 was dominated by the Urba affair and the regional electoral campaigns. As opposed to 1986, the regional campaigns were troubled by the entrance of new political forces, such as the Greens or various independent lists. In the run-up to the regional elections, Brice Lalonde, the Green Minister of the Environment, announced his resignation from the government in November 1991. Days later, he officially joined The Greens and announced his candidacy as the top-candidate on the Green list in the Ile-de-France (Parisian) region.

On the right, the RPR-UDF formed electoral alliances similar to the 1986 alliance. The UNF ran a few independent lists in some departments, but also participated in RPR-UDF lists. On the left, similar deals took place between PS and MRG, and to a lesser level, the Communists. Jean-Pierre Soisson, the leader of the France Ensemble (FE) movement, announced that he would lead a solely FE-Presidential Majority list in the Yonne department (Bourgogne). In February 1991, at its founding Congress, the FE movement adopted the name Union du centre réformateur (Union of the Reformist Centre, UCR). The FN ran lists in all departments.

In mid-March, an IFOP poll for Le Monde showed that in regional voting intentions, the RPR-UDF alliance had 40% of voting intentions, against 31% for the PS-MRG-PCF, 13% for the Greens, and 11% for the FN. 5% indicated that they would vote for another party (independents, far-left, or UCR).

IFOP poll for Le Monde (March 11, 1992)
RPR-UDF 40%
PS-MRG-PCF 31%
Greens 13%
FN 11%
EXG 4%
UCR 1%

Analysts projected that the left could lose Haute-Normandie to the right, with an outside chance of losing the Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

On March 22, the first round of voting in the cantonal elections was held, as well as the first-and-only round of voting in the regions.

The first round of the cantonal elections saw a decisive victory for the RPR-UDF, with around 41% against 31% for the left. The Greens won an impressive 11%, tied with the FN. The runoff, on March 29, saw a repeat of the first round results, but the electoral system prevented the election of a large number of Greens and Frontistes.

In the regional elections, uncertainty dominated. The RPR-UDF polled about 10% more than the left, but the RPR-UDF, which had majorities in 10 regions in 1986, lost 7 of those overall majorities. They conserved majorities only in Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, and Pays-de-la-Loire. The PS lost its absolute majorities in the Limousin and Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In Haute-Normandie, left and right were tied. The Greens made huge gains and won seats in all regions. By far, their strongest result came in traditionally ecologist Alsace, where the Greens obtained more seats than the PS. In the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, an ecologist and centre-right list led by Jean-Louis Borloo (Green) made an impressive showing.

Chaos, shouting, and walkouts prevailed on the day the new regional councils met to elect the executive. The cause: the FN voting for right-wing candidates. In Lorraine, UCR incumbent Jean-Marie Rausch immediately resigned after having accepted FN votes. In Bourgogne, Soisson (UCR) was elected by an unholy coalition of left-wing and FN votes. He, however, refused to resign. He would, however, resign later in 1992 in the wake of criticism from left and right. Jean-François Bazin (RPR) succeeded him, leading a minority right-wing administration. In Haute-Normandie, Fabius was finally defeated by Antoine Rufenacht (RPR). It is unclear whether or not the FN voted for Rufenacht, though Fabius alleged that they did. In Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Jean-Claude Gaudin (UDF-PR) kept his seat after strong challenges from Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN) and Bernard Tapie (MRG), as well as a Communist candidate who refused to endorse Tapie. In Nord-Pas-de-Calais, voting needed to be delayed several times. The race pitted the left against the right and Borloo. Finally, Jean-Louis Borloo (Green) was elected with the votes of several right-wing councillors, the Greens, and a few Socialists. His election was historic, as it marked the first ever Green regional president. His majority included Greens, left-wingers, and right-wingers. In Alsace however, Antoine Waechter failed to grab the region from Marcel Rudloff (UDF-CDS), despite having received the support of the left-wing group in the council.

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The Mitterrand Presidency 1992-1993

After the left's defeat in the 1992 local elections, Edith Cresson resigned as Prime Minister on April 2. Cresson had been in office for less than a year.

Mitterrand nominated Pierre Bérégovoy to form a government the same day.

Major cabinet posts, as of April 2, 1992:

Prime Minister: Pierre Bérégovoy (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of National Education and Culture: Jack Lang (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Roland Dumas (PS)
Minister of State, and Minister of the Public Function and Administrative Reforms: Michel Delebarre (PS)
Minister of Economy and Finances: Michel Sapin (PS)
Minister of the Budget: Martin Malvy (PS)
Minister of Equipment, Housing, and Transportation: Jean-Louis Bianco (PS)
Minister of the City: Bernard Tapie (MRG)
Minister of the Interior and Public Security: Paul Quilès (PS)
Minister of Defense: Pierre Joxe (PS)
Minister of Justice: Michel Vauzelle (PS)
Minister of International Trade and Industry: Dominique Strauss-Kahn (PS)
Minister of Employment, Labour and Personal Formation: Martine Aubry (PS)
Minister of Posts and Telecommunications: Émile Zuccarelli (MRG)
Minister of the Environment: Ségolène Royal (PS)

The electoral campaign had overshadowed the signing, in February, of the Maastricht Treaty, establishing a European Union. In June, the Congress (composed of all deputies and Senators) met in Versailles to amend the constitution. The text was submitted to a referendum.

The referendum campaign captivated French voters. The Yes side went into the September 20 vote with a huge lead, with around 60% of voting intentions in July. However, by August, with less than a month to go, the No campaign was re-juvenated with the entry of political leaders into the campaign. Philippe Séguin and Charles Pasqua represented the eurosceptic wing of the RPR. The UNF, led by Jean Royer, came out as the leader of the No campaign for the right. The President of the General Council of Vendée, Philippe de Villiers (UDF-PR), along with Charles Millon led the No campaign within the Europhile UDF. On the left, the No campaign was led by the Socialist Jean-Pierre Chevènement, who had opposed the Gulf War conflict.

On September 20, the Maastricht Treaty was approved by only 50.7% of voters, with turnout slightly below 80%.

On September 25, indirect Senatorial elections to renew a third of the seats were held.

RPR 91 (+1)
UC 66 (-1)
PS 67 (-)
UREI 50 (-4)
RDE 23 (-1)
PCF 15 (-1)
UNF 5 (+3)
Non-affiliated 5 (+3)

In October, the Senate elected René Monory (UDF-CDS) as President of the Senate, in the wake of the retirement of long-time incumbent Alain Poher (UDF-CDS).

In early December, in the contaminated blood scandal, three Socialists suspected to be  responsible in the affair, Laurent Fabius, then-Prime Minister, Georgina Dufoix, then-Secretary of State for Social Affairs, and Edmond Hervé, Mayor of Rennes and then-Minister of Health, were investigated.

The 1993 legislative elections were fast approaching. And for the Socialist Party, that wasn't something to look forward too. In power since 1981, voters were tiring of Mitterrand the Socialist governments. Add to that scandals of all types and a looming economic downturn, 1993 didn't look good for the PS.

Approval ratings by February 1993:

Mitterrand: Disapprove 67% Approve 31%
Bérégovoy: Disapprove 54% Approve 41%

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The 1993 Legislative Election

French voters were called to vote again in March 1993 to elect their deputies to the National Assembly.

Both Mitterrand and his new Prime Minister, Pierre Bérégovoy, suffered from a high unpopularity, and the party as a whole was involved in numerous corruption scandals. Voters were tired of Socialist rule, and tired of the Socialist Party. The PS entered the election lagging far behind in polls (22% for the PS against 40% for the RPR-UDF). The PCF, which had suffered massive seat loses in the 1988 legislative election and other poor results in subsequent elections, needed to save as many seats as possible. On the right, the RPR and UDF formed an electoral alliance, the Union pour la France (Union for France, UPF). The UPF campaign promised change, clean government, and an end to the policies led by the PS. The UNF, recently rejuvenated as the "parliamentary nationalist party", united with various other Eurosceptic groupings and nominated over 500 candidates. Jean-Marie Le Pen and the FN called on voters to vote for the "real nationalists" and not the "UPF's nationalist branch". However, the election saw the entry of newcomers: the Greens. After breaking 10% in the 1989 EU elections and winning one regional presidency in 1992, the Greens promised to have an impact on the election. Many voters, mostly left-wingers, tired of the PS but not ready to vote for the RPR-UDF (which was also tainted by corruption scandals), supported the Greens. The Green campaign was led by Brice Lalonde, Antoine Waechter, Dominique Voynet, and Yves Cochet.

Sofres Poll (February 25, 1993)
RPR 19%
UDF 19%
UNF 4%
DVD 1%
UPF (Right) 43%
PS-MRG 23%
PCF 8%
EXG 1.5%
Left 32.5%
Greens 15.5%
FN 9%

The campaign progressed, with 44% of voters declaring little or no interest in the campaign. The Greens capitalized on voter fatigue with the left and right, and urged voters to support the "newcomers" to politics and vote for "real change". On March 12, a debate was held between Jacques Chirac (UPF-RPR) and Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy (PS). Chirac attacked the PS policies in matters of immigration and the economy, and reminded voters of the PS corruption scandal. While few voters actually watched the debate, those who did said that Chirac was the clear winner.

Sofres Poll (March 16, 1993)
RPR 19% (-)
UDF 18% (-1)
UNF 4% (-)
DVD 0.5% (-0.5)
UPF (Right) 41.5%
PS-MRG 19% (-4)
PCF 9% (+1)
EXG 1% (-0.5)
Left 29%
Greens 19.5% (-4)
FN 10% (-1)

The PS went into election night in disaster mode.

Abstention fell to 30% (from 34% in 1988) on March 21, the day of the first round. Abstention was minimally higher on the 28^th, the day of the runoff, where abstention rose to 31.5%. The PS came in third in the first round, polling 18.3% (this figure includes DVG-MRG candidates). The UDF itself polled 18.0%, the RPR only narrowly in front of the lot, with 19.6%. The Greens polled a very high 18.2% and got fourth place, ahead of the UDF. The FN polled 10.2%, the PCF polled 9%, the UNF polled 4.9%, and Miscellaneous candidates (mostly right) polled 1.8%. The UPF as a whole (RPR-UDF and UNF) polled 42.5%. The PS lost 206 constituencies and was left with only 52 seats, even lower less than in 1968. Michel Rocard, Lionel Jospin, Roland Dumas, Michel Delebarre, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, François Hollande, Michel Sapin, and Jean-Louis Bianco were all defeated. Only Pierre Bérégovoy, Jack Lang, Ségolène Royal, and a few others were able to save their high-profile seats. Jean-Pierre Soisson (UCR) also saved his seat in the right-wing Yonne. Laurent Fabius, who had nonetheless won re-election in the Seine-Maritime, stood down as leader of the PS in favour of Michel Rocard. Lionel Jospin, defeated in his seat, announced his political retirement. The election, apart from seeing the UPF take 82% of the National Assembly, saw the entry of nine Greens, including Waechter, Lalonde, and Voynet.

Political analyst René Rémond said that the new Assembly was "the most right-wing in a long time, with a right-wing larger than that in the 1919 Chambre bleu horizon or the June 1968 Assembly".

RPR 240 (+118)
UDF 198 (+73)
Other right 30 (+14)
UNF 5 (+2)
UPF (Right): 473 (+201)
PS 52 (-206)
PCF 24 (-5)
MRG 8 (-2)
Other left 7 (+1)
UCR 4 (+4)
Left: 95 (-209)
Greens 9 (+9)
FN 0 (-1)


Major Results (only candidates polling over 10% included)

Nièvre 1st: Conflans
Bérégovoy (PS) 52.43%
Rostein (UPF-RPR) 47.57%

Corrèze 3rd: Ussel _{first round}
Chirac (UPF-RPR) 59.11%
Audouin (PCF) 15.88%
Bourzai (PS) 14.98%
Others 10.03%

Puy-de-Dôme 3rd: Chamalières _{first round}
Giscard d'Estaing (UPF-UDF) 54.70%
Bardot (PS) 15.11%
Saumureau (Greens) 12.32%
Others 17.87%

Val-de-Marne 11th: Villejuif
Marchais (PCF) 55.05%
Richard (UPF-RPR) 44.95%

Haute-Corse 1st: Bastia
Zuccarelli (MRG) 51.11%
Baggioni (UPF-UDF) 48.89%

Indre-et-Loire 1st: Tours
Royer (UNF) 63.45%
Germain (PS) 36.55%

Paris 1st: Paris-1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Lalonde (Greens) 50.02%
Dominati (UPF-UDF) 49.98%

Yonne 1st: Auxerre
Soisson (UCR) 56.09%
Bordier (UPF-UDF) 43.91%

More available upon request.