Take nothing for granted. That is the message French voters sent in the first round of presidential elections held Sunday. In a stunning rebuke to the established order, Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen, a rightwing extremist, came in second, edging out Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to win the right to challenge incumbent President Jacques Chirac in the May 5 runoff. The ballot is a wakeup call to France's politicians -- and all mainstream politicians in Europe. Voters are disaffected and "business as usual" is no longer good enough.
Disaffection has been expected. The campaign itself had been lifeless and unspirited. Both Mr. Chirac and Mr. Jospin benefited more from each other's blunders than from any inherent advantage either man enjoyed. Both men were longtime politicians with established reputations and images. The prime minister had largely delivered on promises of economic rejuvenation and was known as a sensible and austere man -- no disadvantage when French politics had been rocked by scandals. The president, touched by some of those scandals, was nonetheless one of those larger-than-life figures that the French like to have as their president.
And yet, when the polls closed and 99.33 percent of the vote had been counted, the Interior Ministry gave Mr. Chirac 19.62 percent (the lowest level received by a front-runner in a poll during the Fifth Republic), Mr. Le Pen won 17.08 percent and Mr. Jospin 16.04 percent. Stunned by his third-place finish, the prime minister announced that he would retire from politics after the second ballot. Polls taken immediately after the first round showed Mr. Chirac would easily win the May round with at least 75 percent of the vote. Of course, those polls also predicted a runoff battle between Mr. Chirac and Mr. Jospin, so some skepticism may be in order.