French President Jacques Chirac gambled yesterday on keeping his unpopular prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, but ordered a government reshuffle after his ruling conservatives were routed in regional elections.
The decision shocked many commentators because Sunday's defeat had been interpreted as a vote of no confidence in Raffarin and his economic policies, and it raised further doubts about the pace and depth of cost-cutting reforms.
Raffarin, 55, left the presidential palace smiling after a tense two days in which his future had hung in the balance.
"He [Chirac] named Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin as the prime minister and asked him to form a new government," the presidency said, adding that the new team would be announced today.
The Socialist Party and its allies won a landslide victory in this month's election to France's 26 regional councils.
Raffarin is now expected to push ahead with unpopular reforms such as cost-cutting in the public healthcare system. But he may not go as far or fast as originally planned -- and could still be made a scapegoat if protests continue or expand and June's European Parliament election goes badly.
"If you want to go down a road full of potholes, you are better off going down it with a battered car than with a new one," said Paul Bacot, a political scientist. "If Chirac wants to continue with the reforms, it is better that they be done by Raffarin, who is already worn out and very unpopular."
But others were less convinced that Chirac had been astute.
"I think this is politically very risky, if you consider the scale of the government's defeat in the elections," said political scientist Mariette Sineau. "There's a risk of people taking to the streets to voice their anger."
David Naude, an economist at Deutsche Bank, said that: "This is the worst possible outcome for economic reform but I can only imagine he will only be kept on until June ... Raffarin is burned out and in no position to reform."
Raffarin said nothing to reporters after more than one hour of talks with Chirac, and earlier meetings on Monday.
The left won 50 percent of the vote to 37 percent for the center-right in a round of regional elections widely seen as a censure of the government over high unemployment and the reform program.
Surveys after the election suggested a majority of voters wanted Raffarin to quit and Chirac to name a new prime minister.
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