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Compiled by GayToday
Bertrand Delanoë |
Paris, France—In a final round of contentious politicking Sunday, French citizens chose Bertrand Delanoë, an openly gay man and a Socialist who'd blended his lists with those of the Green Party to achieve victory.
Mr. Delanoë's election is seen as a setback to France's conservative president, Jacques Chirac, who, prior to winning the presidency in 1995, had served as the capital city's mayor for two decades. Chirac's bumbling party antics, according to Paris commentators, helped mightily to secure the Socialist candidate's victory. |
The newly-elected mayor ran a low-key campaign in which he promised voters local improvements and a city government that would remain free from the charges of corruption that had plagued his conservative predecessor.
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The predecessor, Jean Tibéri, had originally been chosen by President
Chirac's party but had been side-stepped when that same party chose
Philippe Séguin as its candidate. Mr. Tibéri refused to back out of the race,
however, and the former mayor clashed bitterly with President Chirac's party.
The two losing conservatives continued to hurl mean-spirited charges at one another into the final days of the campaign, reportedly bewildering the electorate.
Both right-wing candidates had been urged to rally voters against the more liberal left, but could not seem to stop trading insults between themselves.
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Delanoë's left-coalition secured 89 of the 163 seats in the capital city's council. His victory, predict Parisian pundits, will no doubt be of assistance to Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin who, many hope, will run against incumbent President Chirac in the 2002 presidential elections.
Mr. Delanoë had, for many years, served as a member of the Paris city council.
Addressing crowds at city hall following returns, Delanoë hailed the city's first major left-wing electoral victory since 1871, calling the voters' choice "a victory for courage and reason."
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