The mainstream right secured an immense victory in France’s parliamentary election Sunday, forcing the Socialists to surrender control of the National Assembly and giving President Jacques Chirac more power than at any time in the past five years.
The result was a stinging defeat for the French left, abandoned by voters frustrated by rising crime and a government paralyzed by “cohabitation” — having the president and prime minister hail from opposing political parties.
The head of Chirac’s caretaker government, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, seems poised to act for the next five years as point man for Chirac’s ambitious pro-business agenda.
Raffarin, who would have lost his post if the left had won Sunday, will preside over a government that Chirac has promised would cut income taxes, ease red tape on businesses and give employers flexibility in implementing the law that sets the legal workweek at 35 hours.
