Word: gaullists
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...Disunity over the measure was not limited to the left, however. Several leading conservatives - including former Gaullist Premier Edouard Balladur and former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - broke ranks to vote for the bill, while 30 others aided it by abstaining. That conservative support reflected beliefs that French political and economic modernization lies in extending previous transfers of decision-making power to regional authorities. Earlier French devolution programs were productive. But in tailoring decentralization to regional particularities, the Corsica bill challenges constitutional tenets of national indivisibility and equality...
...partying went on until 2 a.m. in front of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris' city hall, as Delanoë made a victory speech and accordionists entertained champagne-swilling supporters of his Socialist-Communist-Green coalition. But while they celebrated wresting control of the French capital from the Gaullist Rally for the Republic party that has ruled it for nearly a quarter century, elsewhere the picture was bleak. In the voting for mayors and city councils of 36,000 municipalities, Gaullist and center-right parties took 38 large and midsize cities from the left and lost only...
...which was bad news for Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who is expected to square off against Gaullist President Jacques Chirac in next year's national elections. Pollsters and pundits had predicted a "pink tide" of leftist victories that would have given Jospin a crucial boost in advance of next spring's parliamentary and presidential votes. Instead, Jospin was engulfed by a "blue tide" of conservative victories that raised worrisome questions about his future chances. Perhaps the most alarming sign was that five of his cabinet members were defeated in local contests, including such stalwarts as Labor Minister Elisabeth Guigou...
...news for Chirac was the loss of Paris, which he ruled as mayor from 1977 until his presidential victory in 1995. Funding scandals going back to Chirac's tenure and multiple corruption charges surrounding his hand-picked successor, Jean Tiberi, caused widespread voter disgust over the Gaullist "system." After Chirac replaced Tiberi with Philippe Séguin as the rpr's official candidate, the disavowed mayor decided to run as an independent and split the conservative vote. In Lyons, similar divisions on the right handed a narrow victory to Socialist Gérard Collomb, giving the left control of France...
...guin faced multiple problems: Tiberi's "dissident" candidacy, public lassitude after nearly a quarter-century of Gaullist rule, voter disgust over allegations of corruption going back to Chirac's days as mayor and, not least, the charge that Séguin was a parachuté-a carpetbagger brought in from the outside. To make matters worse, he has run a lackluster race marked by baffling tactical shifts. By contrast, Delanoë's low-key campaign, boosted by the national popularity of the Socialist-led government, has the wind at its back...