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Victorious Chirac Hails France, Defeated Le Pen Cries ‘Foul’
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PARIS, May 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - French voters put an end to the rise of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, put their full trust in President Jacques Chirac Sunday, buying the veteran politician another Presidential term.
Chirac won more than 80 percent of the vote, according to initial computer estimates, the biggest margin of victory ever in French presidential elections.
Chirac’s second term starts Monday, May 6, ends five years later, according to the latest constitutional amendments decreasing the term from seven years.
Immediately after declaring the initial results, Chirac hailed France for reaffirming its "attachment to republican values", while Le Pen admitted his defeat claiming he was beaten by "Soviet methods."
"Tonight, France reaffirmed its attachment to republican values," Chirac said at his campaign headquarters, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I will put the Republic at the service of all."
"I have heard and I understand your call for the republic to live, for the nation to rally together," he said. "The choice you have made is a fundamental one, which renews our republican pact."
"I will engage myself with determination, and in a spirit of unity, a republic that will serve all."
The president said fighting the country's soaring crime rate would be the state's first priority, in a clear message to voters who said insecurity was their greatest fear.
Chirac said he would select a government to address the problems of the people, which he said, "have been ignored for too long."
"The mandate you have entrusted me with will be exercised in a spirit of openness and harmony, insisting on the unity of the republic, the cohesion of the nation and the respect of the authority of the state," he said.
For his part, Le Pen called the result a defeat "for the hopes of the French" and predicted that Chirac's coalition would collapse before June's legislative elections.
"It is a sharp defeat for French hopes. The victory of Jacques Chirac was a victory gained by Soviet-style methods," he told supporters after the release of the first estimates.
"All the television, radio, press, all methods of exerting influence, were at the service of the same cause, this great honest man who everyone was calling "super liar" a short time ago," he said.
"But all this will disappear very shortly. I am patient, and I will not have to wait long to see the allies in this morbid coalition tear themselves apart," he asserted.
"We look to the future with great confidence, and we will meet again in the legislative elections [next month]. And of the 81 percent who voted for Jacques Chirac, how many will vote for the RPR [Chirac's Rally for the Republic party] in the legislative elections?" he said.
Chirac now faces the biggest challenge of his career with his personal credibility and the country's future at stake.
Chirac’s crushing victory came after a massive thumbs-down to the anti-immigrant views of extreme Le Pen.
However, enfeebled by corruption claims against him and an empty record in office, Chirac will face the urgent task of healing a country he says has been "wounded" by the far-right resurgence. As he moves into his 70s, it will be the challenge of a lifetime.
Chirac, who is now 69, has worked hard over 40 years to become the pre-eminent figure on the French right.
With additional reporting by Aalya Si Ahmed, IOL Paris Correspondent
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