Chirac loyalist, rival vie for French PM's job

French President Jacques Chirac was under pressure to appoint a new Prime Minister yesterday after voters rejected the EU Constitution, with a bitter political rival and a loyalist minister vying for the post.

Mr Chirac swiftly conceded defeat after projections showed some 55 per cent of voters had rejected the European Union's charter, signalling in a brief televised address he would shortly announce a major government and policy shake-up.

"Dear compatriots, during this debate you have also expressed your worries and your hopes. I intend to respond to that by giving a new and strong impetus to the action of the government," Mr Chirac said.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin has emerged as the favourite to replace the hugely unpopular Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Possessed with dashing good looks, a striking head of grey-white hair, boundless confidence and energy, Mr Villepin is an ultra-loyal aristocrat who, as foreign minister, was the public face of French opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.

A 90-minute talk with Mr Chirac on Friday, officially to discuss preparations for Sunday's referendum, was seen as a clear sign he was to be named Prime Minister.

"Today it is vital to measure the expectations and aspirations of the French people and to unite around the values of the republic for the defence of the national interest," a strained-looking Mr Villepin said late on Sunday as he announced the government's defeat in a vote called by Mr Chirac.

The weekly Journal du Dimanche newspaper quoted one insider as saying Mr Villepin had already penned his policy speech to Parliament and had been working with a team of corporate headhunters on his cabinet lineup.

Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, Labour Minister Jean-Louis Borloo and Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy also covet Mr Raffarin's job, but the leader of the ruling centre-right party is seen as Mr Villepin's main rival for the post.

A CSA opinion poll for France 3 television showed Nicolas Sarkozy, leader of Mr Chirac's Union for a Popular Majority and the right's most popular politician, was the public's choice.

It showed 25 per cent of voters wanted the former finance and interior minister to be the next prime minister, more than Alliot-Marie (13 per cent) and Mr Villepin (11 per cent) combined.

Mr Sarkozy, who campaigned for a 'Yes' vote, responded to Sunday's crushing defeat with a vibrant appeal for a change of direction that was seen as a direct pitch for Mr Raffarin's job.

"The 22 months between now and the presidential elections in 2007 must be used to work on a new hope," he said. "This assumes... a major turnaround in our economic and social policies."

Searching questions must be asked if the new government was to "get the country moving", said Mr Sarkozy, whose 'can-do' style is popular with voters even if his free-market style policy prescriptions have less than broad support.

However, Mr Sarkozy's intense personal rivalry with Mr Chirac, whom he hopes to replace as president in an election in 2007, is a huge barrier to his appointment.

Mr Chirac, who has yet to say whether he will seek a third term, may decide France is not ready for the sort of free-market style reforms espoused by Mr Sarkozy on the campaign trail.

Socialist leader Francois Hollande, Mr Chirac' erstwhile ally during the campaign for a "Yes" vote for the EU constitution, saw Mr Sarkozy's comments as a bid for the Prime Minister's job.

"We have nothing to expect from the declaration of his candidacy (for prime minister) of Nicolas Sarkozy. It's the same policy as Jean-Pierre Raffarin," he siad.