France heads for political quake with EU vote

‘Panic in the Elysee,’ screamed the headline on the front page of Le Parisien newspaper.

‘‘At the moment we are in the biggest state of panic there could be,’’ Christophe Barbier, deputy editor of L’Express magazine, said of the political mood in France.

Despite Chirac’s final plea for votes, opinion polls suggest voters will issue a crushing indictment of his and his government’s performance on Sunday. His last hope remains the 20 per cent of voters who polls show are still undecided.

His gamble on holding a referendum on the treaty rather than a safe parliamentary vote seems to have backfired, suggesting he misread the public mood—just as he did in 1997 when he dissolved parliament and his ruling conservatives lost power.

Defeat would weaken Chirac, 72, after 10 years as President and would not augur well for his chances of winning a third term, especially as his personal poll ratings have fallen. Chirac has said he will not quit because the question voters are being asked is about the constitution—not about him. But many voters see the referendum as a last chance to show their discontent with him and his government before Presidential and parliamentary elections due in 2007.

Chirac’s likely response to a ‘No’ vote would be to dismiss Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and reshuffle the cabinet. Chirac hinted at change on Friday by promising to give a ‘‘new impetus’’ to the government after Sunday’s vote. Possible successors as Prime Minister include Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin, a Chirac ally, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the head of Chirac’s centre-right party although his relations with Chirac are difficult.

Less obvious is who would gain in the Presidential race if voters say no. Francois Hollande, leader of the Opposition Socialist Party and a possible presidential challenger, would also suffer a defeat if voters reject the constitution.

One man who could stand to gain is Sarkozy, a former Finance and Interior Minister who has used the referendum campaign to underline his policy differences with Chirac even though they are both on the centre right. —Reuters

Nations must vote ‘yea’: Italy

ROME: European Union nations should continue to ratify the EU constitution even if France rejects the charter at a May 29 referendum, Italy’s Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini was quoted as saying on Friday. In an interview with La Stampa newspaper, Fini said that since the treaty was only meant to go into force in 2009, there would be plenty of time to resolve any impasse with France.

He ruled out a complete renegotiation of the charter in the case of a ‘‘No’’ vote, but said key measures could be introduced outside the context of the treaty while other elements could undergo slight modification. Fini said in the case of a ‘No’’ vote, crucial parts of the constitution could be stripped out and introduced on an ad hoc basis. One such measure was the creation of a dedicated Foreign Minister for the European bloc, he said. —Reuters

Berlusconi urges French ‘Yes’ on EU constitution

ROME: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urged the French people on Friday to vote ‘Yes’ in Sunday’s referendum. ‘‘We repeat our invitation for a ‘Yes’ to the new European constitution because it will make Europe stronger and give it an even greater role on the global stage,’’ Berlusconi said in a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. —Reuters