Word: rocard
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...Elysee Palace, in which Jacques Chirac tendered his resignation as Premier to the adversary who had beaten him at the polls two days before: re-elected President Francois Mitterrand. Then Mitterrand got cracking. Over the next 48 hours he gave France a new Premier, moderate Socialist Michel Rocard; a new 26-member Cabinet that includes six non- Socialist independents; and a cautious start toward a new consensus-seeking & brand of politics. Pledged Rocard: "My commitment is to all those in France today who have anxieties about their future, their jobs and their safety -- no matter how they voted...
...bolster Rocard's chances of eventual success, Mitterrand last weekend called a snap parliamentary election. In a televised statement, he announced that he was dissolving the National Assembly and summoning voters to the polls on June 5 and 12. His aim: to win Rocard a parliamentary majority. Rocard, 57, is a pragmatic self-described social democrat who launched an aborted challenge to Mitterrand's candidacy in 1981 and opposed the sweeping nationalizations that followed the Socialist victory that year. A former Agriculture Minister, Rocard has consistently emerged in opinion polls as one of France's most popular politicians...
...challenge to that view is led by former Agriculture Minister Michel Rocard, 55, a political moderate and longtime Mitterrand rival. The Rocardiens are urging the party to shed its Marxist ideological trappings and modernize its image along Social Democratic lines. They say it must reject the Communists and court centrist and independent voters. Said Rocard: "The French people do not want another version of the (Socialist-Communist) common program, warmed over for today's taste...
...Rocard, an economist, is a member of the Socialist Party steering committee and mayor of a Paris suburb called Conflans-Ste.-Honorine. Widely admired for his wit and personal charm, he is one of the country's most popular politicians, regularly topping the opinion polls with about a 55% approval rating on general leadership ability. Not only is he far in front of Mitterrand's 38%, but he also leads Premier Fabius, 39, and former Premier Raymond Barre, 61, the most popular conservative opposition figure, both of whom draw some 50%. Rocard, whose standing among the Socialist rank and file...
...government, has provoked feelings that are anything but harmonious. "Shameful," declared Jacques Chirac, the mayor of Paris and leader of the right-leaning neo-Gaullists. A volley from the left came only 13 hours after the announcement of the plan, when the highly popular Minister of Agriculture, Michel Rocard, a Socialist and longtime Mitterrand rival, resigned in protest...