By Brian Johnson - 17th April 2005
Jacques Chirac’s televised debate on the EU Constitution has failed to stem the tide of the no campaign.
Chirac’s intervention last Thursday - supposed to have showcased the president’s powers of persuasion - has failed to lift the yes camp’s spirits, and has further dented his personal standing.
The latest opinion polls for Paris Match and Le Parisien show an increase for the no campaign of one per cent since the TV debate to 56 per cent with the yes supporters on 44 per cent.
Chirac’s entry into the yes campaign has backfired, reports the Times, with many newspapers hinting that the 72 year old president appears to be out touch with the French electorate, and may now be under pressure to resign if the referendum vote goes against him.
The embattled president who was aggressively quizzed during the live debate with 83 young people was asked whether he would resign, as Charles de Gaulle did in 1969, when he lost a vote on reorganising the regions.
The possibility of stepping down has gained momentum, as political rivals from Chirac’s own centre-right UMP party jostle for position - the president’s main rival, Nicolas Sarkozy has also compared the referendum to De Gaulle’s resignation.
Sarkozy has a 15 point popularity lead over Chirac as centre-right candidate for the 2007 presidential elections.
And Europe’s foreign ministers, meeting over the weekend raised fears that a French no would be a major stumbling block in the EU’s push to be a bigger player on the world stage and could mothball further enlargement plans.
French foreign minister Michel Barnier admitted there was no “plan B” if voters rejected the constitution, but attempted to soothe the nerves of his counterparts by saying he was sure that in the run up to the May 29 vote, the tide would turn against the no camp.
“I’m confident that in the coming weeks we can make people understand the stakes," said Barnier.
“If France votes no, it will be difficult in Europe - I am convinced the French will make the right choice,” reiterated Luxembourg’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn.
But many EU governments remain jittery at the prospect of having to slow down or even cancel the ratification process.
Chair of the OSCE, Dimitrij Rupel said over the weekend that he was “very worried” about the knock on effect a no vote could have, reported FT Europe in a leading article.
And in the UK, where ‘Europe’ and the EU constitution has been conspicuously off the agenda of the political parties battling in the run up to a May 5 general election, plans to hold the referendum could be shelved if French voters return a negative result.
Contradicting previous statements that the UK would hold a referendum in 2006 no matter what the outcome of the French ballot, UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw admitted for the first time, over the weekend, that he was unsure if the UK ballot would go ahead if France failed to ratify.
Pressed by a TV journalist as to what might happen, Straw said “it all depends…I’ve no idea what is going to happen.” Straw said the decision would be put to EU heads of state at the June summit.
Meanwhile EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana and European Parliament president Josep Borrell are both in Paris today in an attempt to boost the yes campaign.
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