Word: mitterrand
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
PARIS--President Francois Mitterrand was reelected Sunday to a second seven-year term in a resounding victory over conservative Premier Jacques Chirac...
...reliance on U.S.-style campaigning. Ever eager to project a youthful image, Chirac, 55, obtained endorsements from 120 leading sports figures, including Cycling Champion Jeannie Longo, and appeared at rallies with rock stars like Johnny Hallyday. He even publicized an endorsement from Actor Gregory Peck. Not to be outdone, Mitterrand supporters persuaded Veteran Crooner Charles Trenet to record a ditty called Vas-Y Tonton ("Go to It, Uncle," a play on Mitterrand's nickname, "Tonton"). Though campaign advertising is not permitted on television, the growth of privately owned channels in recent years enabled candidates to saturate the tube with appearances...
...three candidates agree on the broad outlines of foreign and defense policy, with provisions for the maintenance of an independent nuclear force de frappe regardless of future disarmament moves by the superpowers. Mitterrand calls for reimposing the so-called wealth tax on the unearned income of the rich, a measure repealed by the Chirac government after it assumed power in 1986. Chirac promises to continue selling off industries nationalized by Mitterrand in the early part of his seven-year term. While Mitterrand opposes such a move, even he no longer wants to pursue what he calls the "ballet" of renationalizing...
...right National Front. Chirac and Barre, either of whom would need Le Pen's expected 11% of next week's vote to go their way in the second round, are handling the matter with caution, calling for immigration reforms based on the recent recommendations of a high-level commission. Mitterrand favors a new law that would allow legal immigrants lacking citizenship to vote in local elections...
Whether the conservative survivor of the first round is Chirac or Barre, he will almost certainly find himself still trailing Mitterrand in the polls. But with the gap as narrow as the 4% shown in the Le Point poll, there may be time in the two weeks before the second round to mount a credible come-from-behind campaign. If not, Mitterrand will be the first French President to serve a second term since -- who else -- Charles de Gaulle...