FRANCE: The French Prime Minister, Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin, won a stay of execution yesterday when President Jacques Chirac decided to leave him as head of a radically reshuffled cabinet to be announced today, writes Jon Henley in Paris
A senior presidential adviser made it plain that Mr Raffarin, whose political future has hung by a thread since the centre-right's crushing defeat in last weekend's regional polls, had been given until the European elections in mid-June to regain voters' confidence.
"It's a gamble for both men," the Elysée palace official said. "Chirac must hope Raffarin has enough left in him to spearhead the remaining reforms. Raffarin has to hope he can convince the public they are needed."
The left-wing opposition instantly accused Mr Chirac of ignoring the wishes of France's voters, who on Sunday handed the Socialist party and its Green and Communist allies a landslide victory which left just one of France's 22 mainland regions in conservative hands.
The results were seen as a huge vote of no confidence in Mr Raffarin's government and its unpopular economic reforms, which have involved cuts to the state pension and education and unemployment schemes, and should soon include a budget squeeze in the health service.
"Jacques Chirac has stuck two fingers up at the French people," said Mr Jean-Marc Ayrault, leader of the Socialist group in the National Assembly.
Mr Laurent Fabius, the party's No 2, said Mr Chirac had shown he was "deaf to the message of the French people".
The Elysée said the new cabinet's full make-up would be announced today and that Mr Chirac would postpone a visit to Moscow by a day to allow the government to meet on Friday.
Commentators were split over the wisdom of Mr Chirac's decision.
"If you go down a road full of potholes, you're probably better off with a battered car than with a new one," said one political analyst.
"If Chirac wants to continue with the reforms, it's better that they be carried out by Raffarin, who is already worn out and very unpopular."
But others were not sure the President was right. "I think this is politically very risky, if you consider the scale of the government's defeat in the elections," said Ms Mariette Sineau, a political scientist.
An economist, Mr David Naude, said it was "the worst possible outcome for reform . . . Raffarin is burned out."
The one big advantage for the French President is that he does not have to appoint his main political adversary, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, as prime minister. Instead, Mr Sarkozy is likely to be kept sweet with an expanded interior ministry brief.
- (Guardian Service)