No right turn

International | France's left turn threatens to provoke an E.U. crash | Mindy Belz

Like Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, French President Jacques Chirac called elections nearly a year early to reignite support for his own parliamentary agenda. Unlike Mr. Chretien, Mr. Chirac badly miscalculated the mood of his country. The day before the June 1 elections, his conservative coalition had 464 seats in the National Assembly; the day after, it had 253.

Replacing the conservatives is a leftist coalition led by Socialist Party head Lionel Jospin, who becomes France's new prime minister. Mr. Chirac gets to keep his office under France's quasi-parliamentary system.

Conservatives and Socialists drew clear lines in this campaign: Mr. Chirac wanted to reduce budget deficits and government spending so France could qualify for participation in a new common European currency (the euro) by the 1999 deadline. Mr. Jospin promised 350,000 jobs in the state sector and a halt to privatizations of major industries. Mr. Chirac's insistence on a program of economic austerity is roundly blamed for the defeat.

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