Frantic scramble to revive the 'Yes' vote

President Chirac's government tried to buy peace from disgruntled civil servants yesterday as ministers and opposition leaders stepped up their campaign to dissuade France from rejecting the European constitution in a May 29 referendum.

The latest opinion poll in Le Figaro confirmed that the “no” campaign was gathering momentum, with 54 per cent of decided voters ready to vote against. This compared with 60 per cent support in January. Hostility is especially strong among left-wing voters, who see the constitution as a sell-out to a British-controlled free-market Europe.

Reversing an earlier refusal, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the centre-right Prime Minister, offered a pay rise to civil servants, a traditional bastion of the opposition Socialist Party, whose unrest is feeding a mood of rebellion against the Establishment. The fate of the referendum increasingly rests on the ability of François Hollande, leader of the divided Socialist Party, to dissuade left-wing voters from deserting to the dissident “old Socialist” camp that has been galvanised by the constitution.

The left-wing “no” camp, led by Laurent Fabius, the deputy Socialist leader and former Prime Minister, is attracting support by arguing that voting “yes” with M Chirac and his unpopular Prime Minister is a sell-out of Socialist principles.

Both the Socialist leadership and M Chirac have switched tactics over the past few days to counter the demonisation of the constitution by opponents from the Left and the far Right. Recognising that scare tactics were not working, they have toned down their argument that a “no” would condemn France to impotence in Europe for years to come.

The Government and the Opposition have also started playing up the constitution’s social guarantees. During a weekend visit to Tokyo M Chirac said that it would “safeguard the French social model”. Jean-François Cope, a Cabinet minister, said: “Voting ‘yes’ means showing your attachment to the French model and your rejection of the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ or Polish model.” On the Left, M Hollande said: “Social Europe depends on a ‘yes’.” The “yes” campaign, which is only now becoming organised, hopes to halt the rejectionist surge by explaining what is in the constitution and appealing to France’s traditional pro- European instincts. They argue that the “ no” campaign is being driven by arguments that have little to do with the treaty.

These include the false beliefs that the constitution opens the door to Turkish EU membership; that it implements the so-called Bolkestein directive on the free movement of services; and that it will force public services to be privatised.

The Government has apparently cancelled an invitation to José Manuel Barroso, President of the EU Commission, to appear in a showcase programme on French TV. French media reports said M Chirac’s entourage cancelled it because they feared that Senhor Barroso, with his strong “liberal” views, would feed the “no” vote. The Commission and M Chirac’s office yesterday denied any political intervention.

Source: FT