FRANCE: For a politician who has always struggled to appear more human, it was perhaps not the wisest way to declare his candidacy, writes Lara Marlowe from Paris
The Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin announced yesterday that he will stand for president of France, in a written statement faxed from his home to the Agence France Presse at 6 p.m..
Mr Jospin's communications advisers apparently did not see the irony in the closing sentence of his first paragraph: "They sometimes say power distances people; for my part, I feel it has brought me closer to you."
The Socialist leader spent the afternoon in the French National Assembly, summarising his achievements as head of government since 1997. Only in France would a leader boast of having passed a record number of laws - 220 in Mr Jospin's case.
Mr Jospin wanted to create surprise, when it has been obvious for months that he will oppose President Jacques Chirac in the presidential race. Like Mr Chirac on February 11th, he will give a live interview after the television evening news tonight.
Mr Jospin placed Mr Chirac's favourite word - authority - high in his statement. "I want to restore the spirit of responsibility, the foundation of authority," he said. Crime rose 8 per cent last year and all opinion polls show that insecurity is the first concern of the French public.
Much of the electorate blame Mr Jospin's government for the rise in crime. In his first campaign speech in an immigrant suburb on Tuesday, Mr Chirac advocated "zero impunity" for criminals. It was, the incumbent president's critics were quick to point out, a dangerous stand for a man who refuses to be questioned by a judge.
In announcing his candidacy, Mr Jospin said it was necessary to "preside differently", a variation on his 1997 promise to "govern differently". He made five commitments.
Three of Mr Jospin's promises - a safer France, a more modern France and a powerful France that will work for "political Europe" - echo Mr Chirac's concerns. But Mr Jospin's first priority - "going towards full employment" - is rarely mentioned by the president.
Nor is Mr Jospin's desire to see a more just France, where inequalities in income will be reduced. Mr Chirac is promising an economy less trammeled up with regulation.
Mr Jospin did not elaborate on his commitment to "adapt" taxation and public spending in the interest of modernising France. His allusion to "the threats that certain people bring to bear against social security, pensions, public service and the right to work," was a clear dig at Mr Chirac.