The Mitterrand Presidency 1993-1995Following the legislative elections, many advanced Jacques Chirac as the next Prime Minister. However, Chirac, speaking to a crowd of UPF supporters on Election Night, called on Mitterrand to resign in the wake of a "massive rejection of his policies by voters" and Chirac said he would refuse to serve as Prime Minister if Mitterrand did not resign. Mitterrand rejected Chirac's call for his resignation quickly. The next day, Mitterrand nominated Édouard Balladur (RPR) to the office of Prime Minister. This nomination was seen as part of a deal that would have Balladur in Matignon while Chirac would prepare the 1995 presidential election.
Major cabinet posts, as of March 29, 1993:Prime Minister: Édouard Balladur (RPR)
Minister of State, and Minister of Social Affairs, Healthcare, and the City: Simone Veil (UDF)
Minister of State, and Minister of the Interior and Territorial Development: Charles Pasqua (RPR)
Minister of State, and Minister of Justice: Pierre Méhaignerie (UDF-CDS)
Minister of State, and Minister of Defense: François Léotard (UDF-PR)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Alain Juppé (RPR)
Minister of National Education: François Bayrou (UDF-CDS)
Minister of the Economy: Edmond Alphandéry (UDF-CDS)
Minister of Industry, Communications, and International Trade: Philippe de Villiers (UDF-PR)
Minister of Equipment, Transportation, and Tourism: Bernard Bosson (UDF-CDS)
Minister of the Budget: Nicolas Sarkozy (RPR)
Minister of Employment, Labour and Personal Formation: Michel Giraud (RPR)
Minister of Culture: Gérard Longuet (UDF-PR)
Other ministers included Jean Puech (UDF-PR) in Agriculture and Fisheries, François Fillon (RPR) in Superior Education and Research, Michel Barnier (RPR) in Environment. The new government saw the return of Pasqua to the Interior, but also the entry of new faces: Bayrou in Education, Sarkozy in Budget, de Villiers in Communications, and Juppé in Foreign Affairs. Philippe Séguin (RPR) was elected to the Presidency of the National Assembly.
Balladur, who had served as Minister of the Economy in the Chirac government from 1986 to 1988 continued his liberal economic policies, inspired by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. His government's economic policy was summarized in two points:
- End of the "No-No" policy of past Socialist governments (no nationalizations, no privatizations
- Return to a policy of privatizations
On July 31, the last French iron mine closed down in Moyeuvre-Grande (Moselle). That December, the government privatized Rhône-Poulenc, a pharmaceutical and chemical company. The privatization of Rhône-Poulenc was symbolic, since Pierre Mauroy nationalized in 1982, a year after the election of Mitterrand to the Presidency.
In January, the Constitutional Council shot down the government's plan to reform the Falloux Law on Education, dating from 1850. The law, which was proposed by Bruno Bourg-Broc (RPR) in October 1993, was finally approved in mid-December 1993. The project freed up additional government funding for private schools. In January 1994, the Constitutional Council decided that the reform, which would allow local governments to give more funding to private education, was anti-constitutional and violated the historical principle of equality and secularism. The Constitutional Council struck down section two of the law, the meat of the law. Officially, however, the law was promulgated. This attempt at reform was met with harsh criticism from the left, especially the PS, which feared for secular public education. Young voters also lost trust in the Balladur government.
In the March cantonal elections, the PS won a pleasing 21% of the vote in the first round, marking a slight revival after the 1993 disaster. In addition, the left gained the general councils of Gironde and Dordogne, two important departments. However, the UPF majority gained the rural Creuse.
Attention, however, turned to the upcoming June 12, 1994 European elections with the surprise resignation of the Minister of Industry, Communications, and International Trade, Philippe de Villiers (UDF-PR). Villiers cited the government’s pro-European policies as his reason. At the same time, he left the Republican Party (component of the UDF) to sit as an Independent deputy. In January 1994, de Villiers announced his intentions of leading an independent UDF eurosceptic list in the European elections. Against him, the UPF majority (UDF-RPR) agreed on a common list under the leadership of the UDF Mayor of Toulouse Dominique Baudis. Former Prime Minister (and potential 1995 candidate) Michel Rocard led the PS list, Francis Wurtz led the PCF list, Jean-Marie Le Pen led the FN list, and Yves Cochet, defeated in Paris during the 1993 general election, led the Green list. Bernard Tapie, a former MRG cabinet minister who had faced controversy with his involvement in various scandals, led a Radical list, which received support from some Socialists and Greens. The UNF invited de Villiers to lead their “100% anti-Maastricht list”. Various pollsters indicated a clear edge to the government, which garnered from 30% to 27% of the votes, against 16 to 18% for the PS, 8 to 9% for the UNF and the FN each, the Radicals ranged from 5 to 7%, and the Greens garnered only 6 to 7% of voting intentions. The surprise on Election Day came from the Philippe de Villiers UNF list. With 13.11% of the vote, he came in third, behind the UPF (28.64%) and the PS (15.67%). The FN polled only 9.11%, the Radicals 8.99%, the Greens polled 6.77%. While it was shut out of the European Parliament, a Hunters list (CPNT) polled a respectable 4.02%.
The composition of the French delegation to the European parliament:
UDF-RPR 29 (+4)PS 15 (-8)UNF 13 (+13)FN 9 (-)MRG 9 (+9)Greens 6 (-4)PCF 6 (-1)Following the renewed electoral rout of the PS, Michel Rocard stepped down as Socialist leader and was replaced by the staunch left-winger Henri Emmanuelli who called for an emergency party congress in Liévin for November. In Liévin, the motion led by Emmanuelli which united almost every faction of the party won a resounding 95% of the votes.
At the UNF Congress held in Colmar in November, Jean Royer, the long-time leader of the conservative movement, stepped down from the party’s top spot but kept a role in the sidelines. The young Vendéen MEP Philippe de Villiers, fresh from success in the EU elections, was easily elected to the party leadership with 89% of the votes.
Also in November, the Green general assembly in Lille was marked by a division of the party on partisan lines. Antoine Waechter, Marie-Anne Isler-Béguin, Yves Cochet, and Brice Lalonde headed the centrist line within the party, which rejected any alliance with the left. Dominique Voynet and Noël Mamère led the left-wing faction, which called on an alliance with the left in upcoming elections. Narrowly, by a vote of 51-49, Waechter was re-elected to party leadership, but resigned in favour of Marie-Anne Isler-Béguin, in an attempt to keep the divided Greens united.
On December 24, four Algerian Islamists (of the GIA) hijacked an Air France A300 in destination of Paris and held the entire crew hostage. Finally, the Algerian military allowed the plane to leave Algiers for Marseille, where the GIGN stormed the airplane and killed the four hijackers and freed the remaining hostages held onboard. The event put in the public light the rivalry between the hard-line Pasqua (Interior) and diplomacy-favouring Juppé (Foreign Affairs).
Approval ratings by December 1994:Mitterrand: Disapprove 60% Approve 37%Balladur: Approve 49% Disapprove 48%Next: 1995 presidential race heats up
