The gloves are off

Vaiju Naravane

NEITHER Mr. Jacques Chirac, the conservative President of France, nor his Socialist Prime Minister, Mr. Lionel Jospin, have officially declared they are candidates in the next presidential election in May. Both, however, have been campaigning hard for the past several months. Concretely, that means low digs and barely veiled insults in public and unconcealed, no holds barred, gloves-off attempts at sabotage in private. At stake is victory in the popularity war and the candidates have already begun slugging it out.

Last month, Mr. Olivier Schrameck, Mr. Jospin's chief of staff, published a book detailing the relations between his boss and the Gaullist President. Although couched in scholarly, academic language, the book's message is clear: Mr. Jacques Chirac, it says, is a nightmare to work with.

``How can one appreciate the amount of time and energy devoted by Elysee and Matignon (the presidential and prime ministerial offices), not to the national interest but to forever anticipating, blocking or fighting the manoeuvres of the other side, whose sole aim is to trip or cause problems for the adversary?''

The book caused a furore. Mr. Josselin de Rohan, Senate leader of Mr. Chirac's RPR (Rally for the Republic) party, called the book a slap in the face for the President. Mr. Chirac's office officially reminded Mr. Schrameck of his responsibilities as a civil servant, especially the obligation ``not to criticise publicly the highest office in the land.''

Earlier, it was Mr. Jospin's turn to cry foul. At a meeting with Spain's Prime Minister, Mr. Jose Maria Aznar, the Prime Minister was obliged to trail behind the President while an ecstatic crowd chanted ``Chirac, Chirac''! The Socialists claimed the President had deliberately planted his supporters in order to embarrass Mr. Jospin.

The events of September 11 have led to a further sharpening of knives. International events, however, generally tend to bestow an advantage on the President.

The present French Constitution, adopted in 1958 under the Fifth Republic, was tailor-made to fit the larger-than-life personality of Charles de Gaulle who presided over his country's fortunes for 11 years. It essentially favours the President of the republic who has sweeping executive powers.

The President is the guarantor of the Constitution, Commander-in- Chief of the armed forces, assures the continuity of the state and has absolute sway over defence and foreign affairs. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, is supposed to run the Government.

De Gaulle saw the office of the Prime Minister as that of the fall guy, the one who conveniently takes the flak when things go badly. But what happens when the President and the Prime Minister belong to feuding political families, as is now the case? The Prime Minister controls the purse strings and can hamper presidential plans. He can hold up payments, enforce budget cuts and introduce bills in Parliament aimed at reducing the presidential margin for manoeuvre.

Both Mr. Chirac and Mr. Jospin have moved into top gear since the events of September 11. The President has been posturing on the world stage, jockeying for position at the top table. He has called for the urgent holding of an international conference on Afghanistan, a rapid creation of a Palestinian state and has promised French forces for Afghanistan. The French Plan for Afghanistan urges the return of the King and places the accent on ``the humanitarian aspect''.

To the world at large, the French President has not appeared very convincing. France has been furious at the pre-eminent role played by Britain's Mr. Tony Blair and is afraid of losing the European initiative in West Asia to Germany.

While Mr. Chirac would like to go into battle for the Americans, he has had to be mindful of France's own population of 5 million North African Muslims. His statements, although fully backing the U.S.-led coalition have been peppered with ``buts'', a fact not lost on Washington. Despite the constraints, however, Mr. Chirac has given it his all, mostly for the consumption of a domestic audience.

Mr. Jospin has got the wrong end of the stick. So far, he has managed to hold together a fractious government made up of the Greens, the Socialists, the communists and radical leftists, a coalition he euphemistically calls the ``plural majority''. So far, Mr. Jospin's credibility as a good manager rested on his capacity to keep the coalition together and an impressive economic record. He may be about to lose on both fronts. The September 11 attacks have badly shaken the French economy and revised World Bank and OECD figures indicate growth will be much lower than predicted. Several large businesses have folded up, including companies like Moulinex, which have traditionally had a hold over the public imagination as being quintessentially ``French''. Unemployment figures are on the rise again. The killing of several policemen in shooting incidents involving multiple offenders released on bail has raised a storm of protest. Hospital interns, private clinics and now GPs have gone on strike to as for increased pay.

As elections approach, Mr. Jospin's political allies are returning to their own political agendas. The communists abstained and the Greens voted against a new package of ``anti- terrorism'' measures hurriedly put together by Mr. Jospin's government. These give the police the right to search cars and conduct body searches besides allowing investigators to tap phone conversations and Internet exchanges. Right-wing conservatives feel the Socialists, by passing this law, are poaching on their traditional grousing ground, that of insecurity and high crime rates.

``There is a before and after September 11,'' the Interior Minister, Mr. Daniel Vaillant, said defending the bill in Parliament. The measures have been criticised as a threat to civil liberties.

In a bid to shore up his coalition, Mr. Jospin declared that his Socialist Party had ``a real chance'' of winning the presidential poll and the legislative election soon after. ``Let us keep our wits and keep fighting,'' he said. The Socialists published a pamphlet vaunting their economic policies.

The right has riposted with a counter pamphlet accusing the Socialists of fudging the figures.

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