Chirac urges French to back EU charter
Mr Chirac made a nationwide television address at 6pm Irish time yesterday, seen as his last chance to persuade voters not to use Sunday’s referendum to punish him and his government for unpopular economic policies.
A French rejection could kill the constitution, undermining France’s role in the 25-member bloc and delaying the integration of new member states.
A survey by pollster Ipsos showed 55% of voters planned to reject the charter, a rise of 2% over the last survey by the group. Some 11% of voters were undecided and 23% refused to answer.
A separate poll by TNS Sofres-Unilog put opposition at 54%, up 1% from the group’s poll almost two weeks earlier.
Some 20% of those questioned were undecided.
The founding father of the constitution said he believed France would approve the treaty because a majority of undecided voters would support it.
“The people who are undecided are more inclined toward the ‘Yes’,” former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who led a convention of lawmakers and national representatives who drafted the charter, said.
“The undecided voters are people who do not like to express their views because they feel isolated in their economic or social milieu. The ones hesitating are probably people who just have not said until now that in fact they want to vote ‘Yes’.”
A leading opponent of the treaty, former Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, urged voters to turn out in force.
“It’s not the opinion polls that count. It’s the vote,” Mr Fabius said.
Eleven successive polls have put the No camp ahead in France. Surveys show the No camp also clearly ahead in the Netherlands, which votes on Wednesday. The treaty must be adopted by all EU member states to take effect. Dutch politicians have proposed holding a second vote if the Netherlands rejects the treaty, but the French have ruled that out.
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