A Duel over City Hall

FRANCE

Ever since he angrily quit as France's Premier last summer with the complaint that he was never granted sufficient power, ambitious and driving Jacques ("Bulldozer") Chirac, 44, has been gunning for President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. At a massive, brilliantly orchestrated political rally last month, Chirac took personal command of the Gaullist party with the clear aim of replacing Giscard as leader of the government's parliamentary majority (TIME, Dec. 20). For a while Giscard loftily dismissed the ruckus as mere subaltern political maneuvering. But last week Chirac flung down a challenge to the President's authority and prestige that could not be ignored: he announced that he will run for the newly enhanced post of Paris mayor against Giscard's own hand-picked candidate.

Giscard's choice for the job was Michel d'Ornano, 52, an old friend now serving as Minister for Industry and Research. But the Gaullists resented the selection of Ornano, an Independent Republican, as a presidential attempt to undercut their political strength in the Paris municipal council, where 36 out of 90 seats are currently held by Gaullists. In past years the office was hardly worth fighting over, since Paris mayors took orders directly from the central government. But thanks to a reform measure proposed by Giscard and enacted a year ago, the next mayor and city council--to be chosen in nationwide municipal elections March 13--will gain a major voice in the running of an international capital of 2.3 million inhabitants and with a budget of $1.4 billion. As a result, the new mayor will become a powerful French political figure.

Rupture. Chirac jumped into the fray after weeks of backroom negotiations between Giscardians and Gaullists failed to produce a compromise on a candidate. Calling Ornano's candidacy already a failure, Chirac said he was offering his own "so that the capital of France does not run the risk of falling into Socialist-Communist hands." The logic convinced no one. Premier Raymond Barre, visibly angered, charged that Chirac's move would sow such political confusion in the ranks of the majority that his economic-recovery program would be "compromised." Added Centrist Leader Jean Lecanuet: "Far from strengthening the majority, Mr. Chirac's initiative risks giving the left a chance." Though Paris has long been a conservative stronghold, recent polls do indeed show gains by the left, and the spectacle of a divided majority just might give it the election. Whatever the outcome, Chirac's candidacy ruptured the few links that remained between Giscard and the Gaullist camp. Said an inside observer of French politics: "It's hatred on both sides."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.