Ambroise

The presidential election of 2002 consisted initially of a first turn which took place on April 21st, 2002 which led to the second turn opposing the May 5th the outgoing President of the Republic Jacques Chirac to Jean-Marie Le Pen. This election drew more an international great attention because of the presence of the candidate of the Extrême right-hand side with the second turn.

This presidential election is the first of the V {{E}} République with having to elect a president for five years instead of seven (see Quinquennat, Septennat).

For this election, the order of presentation of the elections presidential and legislative was changed, bringing the presidential one in first, and the legislative as a second.

First turn

This eighth presidential election under the Fifth Republic saw sixteen candidates joining together 500 sponsorships necessary, as well as a rate of abstention ever seen for a first turn of presidential election: 28,40%.

The outgoing president of the Republic, Jacques Chirac (RPR), arrives at the head in front of Jean-Marie Le Pen (FN).

The outgoing Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin (PS), is only third man and announces the evening even its withdrawal of the political life, with 21:30.

For the second time under the Fifth Republic, the left is not represented with the second turn of a presidential election (the first time was in 1969 with Georges Pompidou and Alain Poher).

If the results of the last surveys were relatively reliable for the majority of the candidates, the institutes carrying out the investigations as well as the journalists and the political personalities had not anticipated the possible presence of the National front to the second turn.

It of followed a debate concerning the techniques of surveys, their results and their interpretations, discusses carried again with the front of the scene at the time of the countryside for the first turn of the presidential election of 2007.

The presence of the National front to the second turn also made re-appear the debate on the useful Vote for the following elections, this one being regarded by certain as undemocratic (the 1st turn in front of according to them accurately representing the political sensibilities of the whole of the voters) and by other like a need to counter the presence with the second turn of such or such candidate/being left considered to be dangerous according to their criteria.

The last surveys before the first turn

Reactions to the first turn

Many spontaneous demonstrations proceeded in the night from April 21st to 22nd 2002 then April 22nd and 23rd, in the French big cities, in sign of protest.

Wednesday, April 24: 60.000 people in the streets of the big cities.
Thursday, April 25: 250.000 people in the streets of the big cities.
Saturday, April 27: 200.000 people in the streets of the big cities, including 45.000 in Paris.
Wednesday the 1st er May:

Approximately 50.000 people with the annual procession of the National front with Paris in the honor of Jeanne d' Arc and to support Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Approximately 1.300.000 demonstrators (figures of the ministry for the Interior), more than 2.000.000 according to the organizers in a hundred cities.

Second turn

Jacques Chirac refuses the debate and is elected with the strongest score since the creation of the Fifth Republic; Le Pen is literally " pulvérisé". Except for MNR which called with the support of the Jean-Marie Le Pen candidate and of Workers' struggle who refused to support Jacques Chirac, an alliance of all the political community to make stopping with the president of the National front made it possible to the candidate gaullist to obtain this result without precedent.

On Monday, May 6 in the morning, Lionel Jospin presents its resignation. A few hours later, Jacques Chirac names Jean-Pierre Raffarin with the head of the French executive.

Detailed results

Analyzes

Books:

the Policy of the people: roots, permanences and ambiguities of the populism , Roger Dupuy, 2002. ISBN: 222613428X - EAN: 9782226134288
Lower parts of a presidency, Jean-Pierre Thiollet, Anagram editions, 2002. ISBN 2-914571-14-3

Cartography:

http://www.univ-lemans.fr/lettres/labo/gregum/actualites/presidentielles2002/presidentielles2002.html

References

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