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High turnout in French vote for Europe's future
A high turnout was reported Sunday in France's crucial referendum on the EU constitution which promises to set the ground for the political future of Europe.
That could boost the "Yes" campaign led by President Jacques Chirac, BIttermann said -- making at "a real horse race." A beaming Chirac, wearing a grey suit, shook hands with voters before casting his ballot with his wife, Bernadette, in the small central town of Sarran. The last surveys put the "No" camp clearly ahead, with up to 56 percent expected to vote down the treaty at the end of a heated campaign that divided France and became a debate on the government's economic record as well as the future of Europe. The new constitution must be approved by all 25 European Union members, either by parliament or by referendum, before it can take effect in 2006. Backers contend the constitution, which EU leaders signed last October, will strengthen Europe and France, make EU operations more efficient and let Europe speak with one voice on global issues. Opponents worry about losing national identity and sovereignty, and the influx of cheap labor -- just as France struggles to reduce high unemployment. Germany became the ninth country to ratify the constitution when the upper house of parliament voted Friday in favor of the treaty that embodies it. Germany followed Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain in approving the text. The Dutch vote Wednesday. If the measure fails, the treaty -- designed to make Europe operate more efficiently -- will be of no consequence. It was drawn up by a 200-person panel of parliamentarians headed by Valery Giscard d'Estaing, a former president of France. Polling stations opened in sunshine at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Sunday, and close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), except in the cities of Paris and Lyon, which close two hours later (2100 GMT). A result is expected to become clear at around 1130 p.m. (2230 GMT). French territories began voting Saturday, and those results from 1.5 million ballots are to be announced Sunday night when polls close in France's largest cities. "I voted 'Yes' because I think Europe is important," Julie Lacour, 21, a student voting in Strasbourg in eastern France, told Reuters. "It's been 60 years that we've been trying to construct Europe. Now we must keep going forward and not go backwards." "I voted 'No' in all conscience, having read the text, due to the lack of will to solve Europe's number one problem today, which is unemployment," said Armel Bompart, 52, a civil servant also voting in Strasbourg, home to the European parliament. The vote has become more of a referendum on the record of President Chirac and his government, according to CNN European Political Editor Robin Oakley. He has said that Chirac has failed to convince the French to support his enthusiastic vision of Europe's future. In a televised broadcast Thursday, Chirac made a passionate appeal to the French not to turn the referendum into a decree on the popularity of his government. "If the French vote 'No,' most analysts believe it would destroy any possibility of Chirac standing again for the presidency in 2007," Oakley said. 'No' vote seen as ahead Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who holds the rotating EU presidency, said a "No" vote would be a disaster for Europe. The "No" camp held its lead in the final opinion polls. But the political temperature was raised by suggestions in one opinion poll that the "No" vote -- seen as comfortably ahead -- had slipped in the final hours of campaigning after Chirac's passionate TV appeal. As Germany officially ratified the new constitution in parliament without a public vote, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a close Chirac ally, urged the French to back the treaty. (Germany approves charter) "If we want to play our role in the world, if we want to take decisions and not see them imposed by others, if we want to keep our European social model, we can do only so with a strong and united Europe," he wrote in Saturday's Le Figaro newspaper. A poll by Ifop research group Friday showed the "No" camp on 56 percent support. But a survey by CSA polling group showed 52 percent of voters who have decided how to vote will oppose the charter, a drop of 3 percentage points since Thursday. Voters are given two slips of paper marked "Oui" and "Non." They put one in a
sealed envelope, which they place in a ballot box. As well as Chancellor Schroeder Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also lent his support at a rally for the "Yes" camp. Polls in the Netherlands, which holds its own referendum on the constitution on Wednesday, suggest the "No" camp is leading by 60-40 percent. A European Commission spokesman confirmed that the ratification process for the constitution would go ahead regardless of the outcome of referendums in France and in the Netherlands. "The procedures have been completed in nine countries representing over 220 million citizens. That is almost 49 percent of EU population. The Commission thinks this is a very important reason why the ratification procedures should go forward," Mikolaj Dowgielewicz told The Associated Press. If the "No" camp wins, Chirac would suffer the humiliation of becoming only the second leader, after Gen. Charles de Gaulle, to lose a referendum since the founding of the French Fifth Republic in 1958. The president has said he would not resign if the French vote "No." But he hinted that he might respond to calls to sack his unpopular Prime
Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and make policy changes. |
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