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France - Politics |
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France is at the political heart of Europe and a major
international player. The country is a republic governed by a President ( Jacques Chirac ),
a Prime Minister
( Dominique de Villepin ) and two houses of parliament.
The French government has traditionally been very centralized. However, following a poor
turnout in the 2002 general election it was felt that the public was becoming increasingly
disenchanted with central governance from Paris. Consequently in
2003 Parliament passed measures to decentralize some wide ranging powers to
the 22 regions of the country.
Jacques Chirac became president of France in 1995 having previously served as Mayor of Paris
and twice as prime minister.
France's central right government has suffered some major setbacks in recent months, the most
significant being the French publics rejection of the EU
Constitution in May 2005. In the aftermath of the " No " vote Mr Chirac made some
fundamental changes to his government, including the appointment of a new prime minister.
He vowed that the new government would take steps to deal with the countries high unemployment
rate, as well as tackle those issues behind the rejection of the constitution. |
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