Word: chirac
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...results brought personal satisfaction to Jacques Chirac, former Premier and head of the newly formed Assembly for the Republic. At a preelection rally in Paris' cavernous Palais des Sports, 5,000 Chirac supporters cheered wildly as the Gaullist mayoralty candidate reiterated his two campaign pledges: "Only we can govern Paris! Only we can build a dike to contain the Socialist-Communist tide!" In the first of two rounds of nationwide municipal elections last week, Chirac won enough support virtually to assure his election as mayor. But outside the capital, he barely managed to keep his finger in the dike...
Some observers believe that the left wave may even have crested, and will now subside. But the poor showing by the Giscard-Chirac candidates in France's angry provinces was a clear warning to the centrist parties that they must revise their strategies to stem further leftist inroads. The government will have to devise more effective means of dealing with rising unemployment than Giscard's gradualist economic reforms...
Particularly galling to Giscard was the Parisian victory of his ex-ally and former Premier, who had dramatically quit the government last year. Winning over Giscard's hand-picked candidate, Michel d'Ornano, Chirac-barring an unexpected upset-will now hold sway in the Hôtel de Ville as Paris' first elected mayor in a century; the office was re-introduced as a result of a change in statutes engineered by Giscard 15 months ago. Previously, Paris was run by government-appointed officials. The mayor's new powers will include administering a $ 1.4 billion yearly...
Drained Votes. Now Giscard's most serious potential rival on the right, Chirac had accused the President of a "soft" attitude toward the left. A bold tactician, Chirac set out to revitalize a Gaullist party that had fallen into disarray and to woo workers from the left. In Paris, Chirac was helped by lackluster opposition candidates for the mayoralty and by a strong showing of candidates running on an ecology platform, who drained votes from the left. In the provinces, however, many of his close political allies were defeated. "Chirac stands like a white knight in Paris," observed...
Still, the position of mayor of Paris will carry enormous prestige. Chirac's victory and the leftist surge are expected to toughen Giscard's style. "He will have to be more like De Gaulle, more authoritative," said one of his ministers. "Now that the election has identified the opponent on the left, Giscard will have to commit himself to the fight." To meet the leftist threat, Giscard will probably have to join forces with Chirac-though it remains to be seen just how much unity they will be able to achieve...