In all the years I have lived or visited in France, I have never personally had a problem with the proverbial French chauvinism that my American, Italian, and English friends complain relentlessly of. However, I must admit that the faces and attitudes of newly elected French President, Jacques Chirac and his appointed Prime Minister, Alain Juppé, do bear a strong resemblance to this cliché of French arrogance. Our opinions of their attitudes aside, there is no denying that the two new leaders have wasted no time in letting both their countrymen and the international community know that there has been a changing of the guards.
The morning following Chirac’s victory, Juppé exchanged greetings with outgoing premier, Edouard Balladur, at his new office at Hôtel Matignon in a formal ceremony that lasted no more than 30 minutes, before meeting Chirac for lunch at the Elysée. It came as no surprise that Chirac would choose to oust Balladur. Chirac had been angered by Balladur’s choice to run against him during the presidential elections, which split their party’s vote and heightened the risk of losing against socialist candidate, Jospin.
It was also no novelty that he would choose Alain Juppé to replace Balladur. With Alain Juppé, Chirac will have no doubts about his new Prime Minister’s loyalties. Juppé has spent his entire political career by his mentor’s side. A twenty year collaboration which he began in 1976 as Chirac’s speech writer, he accompanied him as his closest advisor when he became Prime Minister in 1986.
Alain Juppé has a reputation of commitment that has followed him throughout his academic as well as political careers. He graduated from three of France’s most elite schools, each time at the top of his class. Since becoming French foreign minister in 1993, he has demonstrated time and time again that he is a man of clarity, independence and decisiveness, although his sense of independence has not always been appreciated by the international community. During earlier conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, he called on NATO to issue an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs. In Rwanda, whilst the UN was still procrastinating, he sent troops on a humanitarian mission.
In his new role as prime minister he is already proving that his action will be in character. During his first day in office, with no lack of resolve he appointed all 28 of his new cabinet ministers 12 of whom are women, more than France has ever had before. Other governments like Italy or even the United States take weeks, sometimes even months, agonizing over such appointments.
Jacques Chirac spent his first day in office meeting with German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl in the French Alsacian provincial capital of Strasbourg. He is expected to further cooperation in Franco-German relations and to continue propagating EU integration. Chirac was back in his office in Paris the following day, and only two days after taking office, he had already begun making his first proposals of constitutional reforms to Parliament. These proposals concern referendums on the subjects of education and the length of Parliamentary sessions. He also announced the new government's intention to take concrete measures to fight France’s growing unemployment problem. Within the week the new government was already making good that promise. A meeting was called of all the prefects from the 96 departments of France. The prefects were asked to spearhead the war on unemployment in their departments, where new job commissioners will be appointed. The new Prime Minister gave them a pep talk on jobs and job creation. What came without precedent is that President Jacques Chirac dropped by. Never before had a French president addressed an assembly of prefects. He gave them what amounted to a 3 minute lecture, the essential message of which was that the prefects personal performance in terms of job creation would be the main criterion for evaluating their personal merit. The reason for Chirac’s presence was to receive a personal commitment from each of the country’s local executive officers. The message was unambiguous that unemployment would be the new government’s top priority.
Whether these two personalities are likeable or not, credit must be given where it is due. The new leadership is not sluggish about taking on the reins of its new responsibility. The fact is, they are going to be ruling France for the next seven years and France is a country that has never downplayed its role in international politics. If anyone had any doubts, look at the way Chirac is standing up to the predominantly negative reaction from the international community to his expressed intention to resume nuclear testing in the south Pacific. And if anyone still has misgivings as to his resolve to take a stand in international matters, remember that it was Jacques Chirac who called the meeting with France’s allies on Monday exhorting them to launch a military operation in Bosnia after the Serbs took over the UN protected city of Srebrenica, one of the six so called "safe areas".
July 1995
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