Third Time Lucky - Chirac Wins Presidential Election

Richard Erickson's Paris Journal - Freelance Correspondent to the Paris Pages
All images copyright (c) 7 May 1995 Richard Erickson - used with permission

Paris:- Sunday, May 7, 1995 - 8 pm Jacques Chirac, in his third bid for the office of President of the French Republic, won by a slim but decisive victory in elections today. He became the fifth president of the 5th Republique.

The center of Paris in 'en fete' tonight as hundreds of thousands of Chirac supporters, and Parisiennes who like any old excuse for a good time, crowd the Champs-Elysees, the place de la Concorde, the place de l'Hotel de Ville - the city hall - and all points inbetween. Champagne producers are already revising their quarterly sales projections drastically upwards.

Television reporters at these locations can not hear the commentary they are speaking. It is a legal riot, and the CRS, the piot police must be outnumbered by ten of thousands to one. A giant bandstand has been set up at the Tuleries end of the place Concorde, facing west to the equally and absolutely jammed Champs-Elysees.

The ministry of the interior has announced a preliminary result of 51.88 percent for Mr. Chirac and 48.12 percent for the challenger, Lionel Jospin.

Chirac (left) and Jospin during their televised debate of last week.

Mr. Jospin's result was more than honorable as he has only been campaigning since March of this year, while Mr. Chirac has been campaigning for 14 years.

The victory for the - now it is proven! - popular Mr. Chirac, comes at the expense of the city of Paris; where he has been long-time mayor. Under his direction the city has cleaned up its act considerably in recent years: instead of watching your step and what it might get you into, you have to watch out you don't get run over by a pooper-scooper on a motorcycle, wearing the distinctive Paris city colours of green and white.

But tonight it is the winner's night and nobody out on the streets of Paris is looking at their feet. Au contraire, the French look very - heads up - in the midst of the of the second biggest party of the decade. Mr. Chirac, unless he decides to shorten the presidentail term to five years from seven, will be president of France as France, Europe, and the world turn the corner into the 21st century. That will be the biggest party and everybody reading this is invited to experience it on the streets of Paris - where when the French feel good, they feel good - in the street. So, book your tickets now.

Bon chance, Monsieur le President!

Paris Picture Gallary of the Election

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Updated 05/95