Voters punish Chirac

The week's news at a glance.

Paris

The center-right party of French President Jacques Chirac took a beating in local elections this week, leaving it with control of just two of France’s 22 regions. French voters overwhelmingly rejected the economic reforms of Chirac’s prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who has made small cuts in the country’s generous pension, unemployment, and health benefits. But Chirac refused to fire Raffarin. Instead, he ordered the prime minister to create a new Cabinet. Raffarin said the unpopular reforms would continue “simply because they are necessary.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us