French Voters Deliver
a Crushing Defeat
to European
Constitution
By KATRIN BENNHOLD,
International Herald Tribune, From the NYTimes on the Web, May 30, 2005
PARIS, May 29 -- French voters
dealt a crushing defeat to the European constitution today, demonstrating their
determination to punish the leaders of France and of Europe after a bitter
campaign that split the country in two.
As the polls closed, the French Interior Ministry said the no camp had 57.26
percent, compared to 42.74 for yes, with nearly 83 percent of the votes counted.
The result was a shock for President Jacques Chirac and a large part of the
political establishment that had campaigned for a yes vote as necessary for
strengthening European unity.
It also created a challenge for the European Union, which has staked its future
on the constitution.
Mr. Chirac addressed the nation 30 minutes after the result was announced.
"My dear compatriots," Mr. Chirac said, "France has spoken democratically.
A majority of you have rejected the constitution. This is your sovereign
decision."
But he added, "France's decision inevitably creates a difficult context for
defending our interests in Europe."
He indicated he would reshuffle his government in the next few days.
In the no camp, politicians were positively gleeful.
"There is no more constitution," said Philippe de Villiers, a far-right
politician who campaigned strenuously for a no vote. He said the vote had
"exceptional legitimacy" because of the high turnout and said Mr. Chirac, who
faces "a major political crisis," should dissolve Parliament and call new
elections.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, said Mr. Chirac
should resign.
Turnout was estimated at over 70 percent, far exceeding other recent elections
in France. The final figure was expected to surpass turnout in the
referendum on the Maastricht Treaty 13 years ago that paved the way to the euro.
"It's a big no," said Bruno Jeanbart, director of political research at the CSA
polling station. "It's a twin protest vote against the government and
against Europe."
Three days ahead of a similar referendum in the Netherlands, analysts said, the
French result was likely to increase the chances of a firm rejection there.
In France today, the mood was tense as the country's 42 million voters turned
out heavily to vote yes or no to the charter.
The constitution can take effect only if it is ratified by all 25 member states.
Nine countries had ratified it before the French went to the polls, and France
was the first in the European Union to decide via a binding referendum.
The no vote makes France, a founding member of the European Union, the first
country to reject the charter. It also sets back European integration by
blocking a treaty that aims to streamline decision-making in an expanded union.
This morning, anti-constitution demonstrators prevented Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin from voting in his home region of Poitou-Charentes as
planned. He managed to cast his ballot a few hours later.
In the evening, the Paris police were on alert as the yes and no camps prepared
to hold rallies in the city center.
In the last three months, the debate over the constitution crept into all
spheres of French life, from prime-time television to school curricula to heated
discussions in cafés and bars.
Every voter received a copy of the proposed constitution in the mail, and polls
suggest that 80 percent either read it or discussed it with friends.
The constitution has 448 articles.
Advocates of the charter said it would make the European Union more democratic
by giving the European Parliament more power and by setting up the positions of
president and foreign minister for the bloc. As a result, they said,
Europe would become a more credible player in world affairs.
Opponents countered that the treaty would sap the sovereignty of member states
and open the door to unrestrained capitalism, putting at risk France's generous
welfare system.
The French capital bore testimony today to the agonizing debate that has deeply
divided and mobilized the whole nation in recent months. In the chic Left
Bank neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, pamphlets urging a yes vote covered
the sidewalks, while in a nearby Métro station "Non" was scribbled in large
letters across wall-sized advertisements.
In the down-at-heel Belleville district in northeastern Paris, Doucha Belgrave,
a 57-year-old writer, said she had voted no because she thought the charter
represented "a Europe of the lowest common denominator."
"I believe in Europe, but not in a free-market Europe where everyone competes
with everyone else and the result is lower wages and less security for all," Ms.
Belgrave said, echoing one of the most popular arguments of the no camp.
In the Marais, a Paris neighborhood, Sarah Julien, a 33-year-old legal expert,
defended her yes vote with the same fervor. "Outsourcing has nothing to do
with this constitution," she said. "That is a consequence of globalization
and it won't go away.
"The populists on the left and on the right have always been anti-European, but
what is worrying is that so many moderate people are voting no."
Many French voters changed their minds just weeks or days before the referendum.
Ferid Kaddour, 59, who owns a bookshop in eastern Paris, said that he had
originally planned to vote in favor of the constitution, but that he had changed
his mind when he started reading and discussing it.
"I voted for Maastricht and was open to the idea of a European Constitution," he
said. "But this is not what I expected. This is a very complicated
and a very political text. It contains lots of things that don't belong in
a constitution."
Like other leftists who planned to vote no, Mr. Kaddour's wife, Christiane, 55,
expressed unease at the idea of lining up on the same side as the far-right
National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen.
"I am not happy voting in the same way as people like Le Pen," she said.
"But we can't endorse a constitution that commits France to an economic system
that I disagree with."
Joel Millet, 30, who is unemployed, said he had voted no because the arguments
by mainstream politicians advanced had not convinced him. "I stopped
trusting them a long time ago," he added.
"I am embarrassed for France," said Christophe Dieu, 36, who works in an
Internet company. "I travel a lot for work and have a lot of friends
across Europe."
"My Italian and my Spanish friends just don't understand what is happening in
France. I don't either."
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