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Jean-Pierre Raffarin

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Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Raffarin in 2013
Prime Minister of France
In office
6 May 2002 – 31 May 2005
PresidentJacques Chirac
Preceded byLionel Jospin
Succeeded byDominique de Villepin
Member of theSenate
In office
18 September 2005 – 4 October 2017
ConstituencyVienne
In office
1 October 2004 – 1 November 2004
ConstituencyVienne
In office
21 September 1997 – 6 June 2002
ConstituencyVienne
In office
2 October 1995 – 31 October 1995
ConstituencyVienne
Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Crafts
In office
18 May 1995 – 4 June 1997
Prime MinisterAlain Juppé
Preceded byAlain Madelin
Succeeded byMarylise Lebranchu
Member of the European Parliament
In office
25 July 1989 – 18 May 1995
ConstituencyFrance
President of the Regional CouncilofPoitou-Charentes
In office
19 December 1988 – 8 May 2002
Preceded byLouis Fruchard
Succeeded byÉlisabeth Morin
Personal details
Born(1948-08-03)3 August 1948(age 75)
Poitiers,France
Political partyThe Republicans(2015–present)
Other political
affiliations		Liberal Democracy(before 2002)
Union for a Popular Movement(2002–2015)
Spouse
Anne-Marie Perrier
​
(m.1980)​
Alma materUniversity of Paris II
ESCP Business School

Jean-Pierre Raffarin(French:[ʒɑ̃pjɛʁʁa.fa.ʁɛ̃]ⓘ;born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served asPrime Minister of Francefrom 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005.

He resigned after France's rejection of thereferendumon theEuropean Union draft constitution.However, after Raffarin resigned, he said that his decision was not based on the outcome of the vote. Opinion polls following his resignation suggested that Raffarin was one of France's least popular Prime Ministers since theFifth Republicwas established in 1958. However, according to the bookFrance: 1815–2003,written by Martin Evans and Emmanuel Godin, Raffarin was "a remarkably popular Prime Minister" despite his ability "to state the obvious and to make empty statements".

He was alsoVice President of the Senatefrom 2011 to 2014.

Early life[edit]

Born 3 August 1948, Raffarin grew up inPoitiers,the son of a prominent national figure: his fatherJean Raffarinwas vice-minister of Agriculture in the government ofPierre Mendes-France(1954–1955).[1]He studied law atUniversité Paris-Panthéon-Assas[2]and later graduated from theÉcole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.He started his professional career in marketing.

In the 1970s, his first political commitment was in the association ofValéry Giscard d'Estaing's young supporters. Defining himself as a "giscardien",he joined the staff ofLionel Stoléru,Secretary of state for Manual Workers and Immigration, and theRepublican Party,the liberal-conservative component of the centre-right confederation theUnion for French Democracy(UDF).

Political career[edit]

In the 1980s, he started a career in local politics inPoitou-Charentesregion. With the support ofRené Monory,the local political leader, he took the chair of the regional council in 1988. Seven years later, he was elected senator ofViennedépartement.

Governmental functions

  • Prime Minister: 2002–2005.
  • Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Craft: 1995–1997.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Senate of France

  • Senator ofVienne:Elected in 1995, but he stays minister / 1997–2002 (Became Prime minister in 2002) / Re-elected in 2004, but he stays Prime minister / Since 2005. Elected in 1995, re-elected in 1997, 2004, 2005, 2008.

Regional Council

  • President of the Regional Council ofPoitou-Charentes:1988–2002 (Resignation). Re-elected in 1992, 1998.
  • Vice-President of the Regional Council ofPoitou-Charentes:2002–2004.
  • Regional councillor ofPoitou-Charentes:1986–2004. Reelected in 1992, 1998.

Municipal Council

Political functions

In Government[edit]

During the1995 presidential campaign,while most UDF politicians supportedÉdouard Balladur,he chose the winning candidacy ofJacques Chirac.In return, he was nominated Minister of Small and Medium-sized Companies, Commerce and Craft Industry inAlain Juppé's cabinet (1995–1997).

At the same time, the pro-Chirac UDF members founded thePopular Party for French Democracy.Then, he returned in the Republican Party, becameLiberal Democracy(DL) in 1997. He was vice-president of DL until 2002.

Prime Minister[edit]

Prime Minister Raffarin andMikuláš Dzurindain Paris, December 2003
Raffarin with Italian Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi,June 2004

During the2002 presidential campaign,he advocated the union of the right behind the incumbent President Chirac. After his re-election, Chirac wished to give a sign of political renewal. Furthermore, elected in a special second round by a majority of left-wing voters, he searched for a moderate to lead the cabinet and theJune 2002 legislative campaign.Raffarin participated in the formation of theUnion for a Popular Movement(UMP). He criticized theAmerican-led intervention in Iraq.[3]

His political policies combinedauthorityand moderate economical liberalism – that is, the support oflaissez-faireeconomic policies. In 2003 he launched reforms of the public retirement scheme and ofdecentralisation,which led to many strikes. During the summer of 2003 the country experienced an unusualheat wavewhich caused the death of nearly 15,000 people. The perceived late reaction of the government was blamed on his administration. In 2004 he began a reform of the French state-run health-care system.

Raffarin's governments were known for their internal quarrels with various ministers taking opposite positions in public. The alleged lack of authority of the Prime Minister was mocked by the media.

On 28 March 2004 the rulingUMPparty suffered an important defeat during theregional elections,with all but onerégionout of 22 of mainland France going to the opposition (PS,PCF,Les Verts). This was generally interpreted, including by Raffarin himself in his post-election speech, as "a sign of distrust against the government from the electorate". On 30 March 2004 Jean-Pierre Raffarin tendered the resignation of his government to president Jacques Chirac, who immediately re-appointed him prime minister, with the delegation to form a new government. This major cabinet reshuffle removed some of its most controversial ministers likeLuc Ferry(education) orJean-François Mattei(health).

Resignation[edit]

Raffarin's resignation was accepted by President Chirac on 30 May 2005, after the "no" victory at theEuropean Constitutionreferendum, and he was replaced as Prime Minister byDominique de Villepin.[4]

On 18 September 2005, he was elected Senator in the Viennedépartement.Speculation were that he could eventually try to becomePresident of the Senateor President of theUnion for a Popular Movementif Nicolas Sarkozy won the2007 presidential election.He became one of the Vice presidents of the UMP in 2007. In September 2008, he sought the Senate UMP fraction's investiture to become President of the Senate, but was defeated byGérard Larcher.

Raffarin is Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) and Grand-Croix de l'ordre national du Mérite (National Order of Merit).

International policies[edit]

During a state visit to China on 21 April 2005 he avoided opposing the new"anti-secession" law on Taiwan,stating that "The anti-secession law is completely compatible with the position of France" and "The position of France has always been to 'one China' and we will remain attached to this position". On the embargo on weapons, he stated that "France continues to ask for a lifting of the embargo, and does not see what could lead the European Council to change position on that question".[1][permanent dead link][2]Archived20 February 2006 at theWayback Machine By convention, foreign affairs are one of the President's—and not the Prime Minister's—sole responsibilities.

Governments[edit]

First ministry (May – June 2002)[edit]

Second ministry (2002–2004)[edit]

Third ministry (2004–2005)[edit]

Minor changes[edit]

29 November 2004 – following a Nicolas Sarkozy's resignation to become president of theUMP scandal forcingHervé Gaymardresignation.

  • Hervé Gaymard – Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industry (replaced Nicolas Sarkozy)
  • Dominique Bussereau– Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fish, and Rural Affairs (replacedHervé Gaymard)

25 February 2005 – following a scandal forcing Gaymard's resignation

Raffarinades[edit]

Jean-Pierre Raffarin was often teased for his optimisticaphorisms,known colloquially and ironically asraffarinades,the best known beingLa route est droite, mais la pente est forte( "The road is straight, but the slope is steep" ). Some consider that the wordraffarinadewas created in reference to the other French wordmazarinade.However,mazarinaderefers to the songs that thefrondeurs(French revolutionaries during theRégenceof Queen Anne – Archduchess of Austria – and chief ministerCardinal de Mazarin,before king Louis XIV's personal reign) sang to mock the unpopular chief minister.

Raffarin also tried his English prior to the referendum on the European draft Constitution but this turned out to be an ill-advised idea, as shown in this famous excerpt[5]from his speech: "Win the yes needs the no to win against the no." The referendum itself was eventually nicknamedle Raffarindumby its opponents whileJournée de solidarité envers les personnes âgées(Day of solidarity with the elderly) is sometimes referred to asla Saint-Raffarinby discontented workers (following a decision by Raffarin, French workers are supposed to work onWhit Mondayfor free, but public transportation still uses its "Sundays and holidays" timetable).

Honours[edit]

Ribbon bar Honour Country Date
Grand Officer of theLégion d'honneur France 2008
Grand Cross of theNational Order of Merit France 2002
Knight of theNational Order of Quebec Canada 2003
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Star of Romania Romania 2004
Order of Friendship China 2019

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Tagliabue, John (7 May 2002)."Man in the News; A Leader to Lean On; Jean-Pierre Raffarin".New York Times.Retrieved8 November2010.
  2. ^Ripaux, Alain (2004).Images et souvenirs du Poitou-Charentes(in French). Visualia.
  3. ^"French PM:Iraq crisis not a game".www.cnn.com.Retrieved7 February2003.
  4. ^"De Villepin appointed French PM".BBC News. 31 May 2005.Retrieved8 November2010.
  5. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 7 November 2011.Retrieved24 April2007.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[edit]

Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Commerce
1995–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of France
2002–2005 		Succeeded by
Order of precedence
Preceded byas Former Prime Minister Order of precedence of France
Former Prime Minister 		Succeeded byasFormer Prime Minister
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