January 07, 2005

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Scan) - The French government gets mixed reviews on its approach to the country's problems, according to a poll by Ifop published in Ouest France. 62 per cent of respondents trust the current administration to deal with public safety concerns, racism and anti-Semitism.

(Angus Reid Global Scan) - The French government gets mixed reviews on its approach to the country's problems, according to a poll by Ifop published in Ouest France. 62 per cent of respondents trust the current administration to deal with public safety concerns, racism and anti-Semitism.

Jean-Pierre Raffarin has headed the government since May 2002. In November, Nicolas Sarkozy became the new president of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). President Jacques Chirac said that he would not allow Sarkozy to keep his post in cabinet and head the UMP, saying this would undermine prime minister Raffarin.

More than a third of respondents believe the government would do a good job providing resources to hospitals and dealing with poverty and exclusion. The current administration gets the lowest marks in outsourcing, unemployment, taxes and purchasing power.

In November, France's unemployment rate was 9.9 per cent, the highest since February 2000. Around 2.7 million French adults are out of work.

Polling Data

Do you have confidence in the government to deal with the following fields?

	Total / Somewhat	A little / None
Public safety	62%	38%
Racism and anti-Semitism	62%	37%
Providing resources to hospitals	41%	59%
Poverty and exclusion	35%	64%
Outsourcing	67%	31%
Unemployment	31%	69%
Reducing taxes	27%	72%
Increase purchasing power	25%	75%

Source: Ifop / Ouest France
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 1,006 French people—ages 15 and up—conducted on Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, 2004. No margin of error was provided.