July 12, 2005

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Scan) - Support for Jacques Chirac increased after a particularly low showing in France, according to a poll by Ifop published in Le Journal du Dimanche. 35 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the president's performance, a seven per cent increase since June.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Support for Jacques Chirac increased after a particularly low showing in France, according to a poll by Ifop published in Le Journal du Dimanche. 35 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the president's performance, a seven per cent increase since June.

Chirac won the presidential election in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over Jean-Marie Le Pen in May 2002. The head of state's popularity increased in late 2002 and early 2003 due to his vocal opposition to armed conflict in Iraq without an explicit mandate from the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

On May 29, 54.8 per cent of all French voters rejected the European Constitution in a nationwide plebiscite. The outcome is regarded as a negative response to the current centre-right government. Two days after the ballot, Chirac appointed Dominique de Villepin as the country's new prime minister, substituting Jean-Pierre Raffarin. 49 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the new prime minister's performance, a five per cent increase in a month.

Last week at the G-8 summit in Perthshire, Scotland, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States agreed to double humanitarian assistance to Africa to $50 billion U.S. by 2010. There was no consensus on a proposal to commit 0.7 per cent of each nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to promote economic development in poor countries by 2015.

The G-8 also promised to implement a "new dialogue" on climate change, deeming the issue a "serious long-term challenge" for the planet. Following the summit, Chirac declared, "The agreement which has been reached—even if it doesn't go as far as France had hoped—has a great virtue, namely that it re-establishes vital dialogue and cooperation amongst the industrialized countries on the one hand—those which ratified Kyoto and those which didn't, in other words the U.S.—and on the other between the industrialized countries and the developing countries. (...) Only a coherent plan of action has a chance of turning things around."

Polling Data

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with Jacques Chirac's performance as president?

	Jul. 2005	Jun. 2005	May 2005
Satisfied	35%	28%	40%
Dissatisfied	64%	70%	59%

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with Dominique de Villepin's performance as prime minister?

	Jul. 2005	Jun. 2005
Satisfied	49%	44%
Dissatisfied	49%	41%

Source: Ifop / Le Journal du Dimanche
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,003 French adults, conducted on Jun. 30 and Jul. 1, 2005. No margin of error was provided.