Uncertain road ahead for Chirac

President Chirac has the mandate, but can he deliver?

By William Horsley BBC European affairs correspondent

Jacques Chirac has promised swift and decisive action to meet the concerns of the French nation.

But though elected as president in a landslide victory over his right-wing opponent Jean-Marie Le Pen, the path ahead for Mr Chirac and his political allies is uncertain.

Much depends on the outcome of next month's parliamentary elections, which look finely poised between the left and the right.

Disparate groups came together to support Chirac

In the five weeks before then, Mr Chirac will work with an interim cabinet team appointed by himself which lacks powers to pass new laws.

And much depends on the skill and tact with which Mr Chirac can translate his unprecedented mandate into a programme that commands the support of most voters.

But there is no doubt about what President Chirac has promised.

It is an uncompromising programme of neo-liberal economic reform, combined with radical measures to bolster law and order, and a bid to take more executive power into his own hands at the expense of the government that is to be elected.

Among Mr Chirac's pledges are:

• A new public security ministry directly answerable to him

• An immediate 5% cut in income tax

• Cuts in company taxes and social security payments by employers

• Modification of the Socialist-inspired 35-hour week to take account of the needs of smaller businesses

• A strong defence of European Union subsidies to French farmers.

In this there is much that is designed to answer the worries of those who backed Mr Le Pen and his National Front.

But there is little or nothing that shows a willingness to co-operate with the left-wing voters who lent him close to 10 million votes to ensure his victory over the challenge of the far right.