France’s former prime minister Lionel Jospin dies

The long-time leader of the Socialist Party was Prime Minister from 1997 to 2002; he ran unsuccessfully in presidential elections twice. Jospin continued during his term in office 35 hour week through. His party confirmed the death, the cause of death was initially unknown.

The achievements he pushed through also include universal health insurance and registered civil partnerships (Pacs) as the first step towards marriage for same-sex couples. He retired early from politics after he came third in the first round of the 2002 presidential election and the right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen surprisingly made it into the runoff. The left’s leading candidate, who many had believed would be the next president, said he took full responsibility for the unexpected defeat.

Le Pen clearly lost the runoff election against center-right President Jacques Chirac. But Jospin never returned to the front row of politics. Years later, when Jospin was asked about this career-ending choice, he said: “One may regret not having had a chance to prove oneself when there was only one step left to climb and one stumbled before that step.”

Image of a stiff politician

A progressive politician, he nevertheless advocated budget discipline and sold more government assets to the private sector than any of his predecessors – a path summed up by his slogan “Yes to a market economy, no to a market society.” But despite all his efforts, the bespectacled, white-haired socialist was never really able to endear himself to voters. His serious manner, coupled with his marriage to the philosopher Sylviane Agacinski, reinforced the impression of a stiff prime minister more comfortable with political dossiers than with stirring enthusiasm.

Lionel Robert Jospin was born in a Paris suburb in 1937 to Protestant parents – in a country that is historically Catholic but secular in public life. In 1956 he attended the Institute for Political Studies in Paris and completed his studies at the École Nationale d’Administration, a training school for the French leadership elite, where he became a Trotskyist. He joined the Internationalist Communist Organization and took the code name Comrade Michel.

Jospin joined the French Foreign Ministry in 1965, but resigned in 1968 amid student protests against President Charles de Gaulle and went to study in the United States. After returning to France in 1970, he taught economics at a university in Paris for over a decade.

From Trotskyist to economic liberal

He joined the Socialist Party in 1971. He rose through the ranks, became one of President François Mitterrand’s trusted confidants and mentored younger politicians, including future President François Hollande. In 1995 he narrowly lost his first presidential candidacy – against Chirac. Two years later, Chirac called early parliamentary elections that gave the left control of the National Assembly. The president was forced to live with a government of opposing political orientation led by Jospin.

The former Trotskyist, who was late in admitting his radical past, initiated a program of economic liberalization. He privatized large state-owned companies and accepted public sector cuts to enable France to join the European single currency.

Under Jospin’s tenure, the country experienced a sustained period of growth and a decline in unemployment, due in part to the creation of around 300,000 public sector jobs for young people and his decision to shorten the regular working week from 39 to 35 hours. This was a change that was praised by unions and criticized by many companies.