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The French Presidential Elections 2002
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The front page of Le Figaro called it "L'immense victoire", and it was immense for Jacques Chirac. So is the relief - for him and for the many voters who weren't his natural supporters but who found that their hatred of Jean-Marie Le Pen gave them no choice. There was much talk of French democracy having been restored - President Chirac said it was a victory for those values of the revolution - liberty, fraternity and equality. With nearly all the votes counted, Mr Le Pen had just eighteen percent of the vote, compared with Mr Chirac's eighty two percent - a record majority. But Mr Chirac owes his second term, in part, to the grudging support of those on the left, who voted tactically to keep Mr Le Pen out.
'Today' has been following events by broadcasting from Avignon, in the Le Pen heartland, prior to the election and Paris on the morning after. On Saturday Jim Naughtie spoke to the right wing leader himself - Mr Le Pen told us he was no more of a racist than Tony Blair and if elected he'd close the Sangatte refugee centre and send all the asylum seekers to Britain.
On Monday we spoke to the man who became the next French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin. He said there are a lot of lessons to be learnt from the events of the past few weeks.
The French will vote again in the National Assembly elections in June. The National Front says it's counting on winning several dozen of the 577 parliamentary seats.
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Listen - Life after the elections in France. (06/05/2002)
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Listen - James Naughtie meets Jean-Pierre Raffarin, France's new Prime Minister. (06/05/2002)
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Listen - Brigitte Bardot's support for Jean-Marie le Pen. (06/05/2002)
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Listen - Defiance from the National Front. (06/05/2002)
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Listen - Interview with Jean-Marie Le Pen on the eve of the elections. (04/05/2002)
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Listen - What's behind the advance of the National Front? (04/05/2002)
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