The resurgence of the French right is complete. Conservatives won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held last weekend; coming on the heels of President Jacques Chirac's re-election in early May, the right now has a chance to rule unconstrained. The victory is tainted, however, by massive abstentions among voters. The new government's greatest challenge is to end the malaise that produced that apathy. Unfortunately, it seems that Mr. Chirac -- as well as other members of the political elite -- is responsible for the disgust felt by French voters.
The results herald a return to mainstream voting by the French public. The right's win marks the end of the five-year period of "cohabitation," during which a conservative president shared duties with a socialist prime minister. There were fears that this situation would produce policy gridlock, but Prime Minister Lionel Jospin actually presided over a period of French economic rejuvenation and growth. He certainly did not deserve the drubbing he was handed in the first round of presidential balloting this spring. That shock -- coming third behind extreme rightwing candidate Jean Marie Le Pen -- forced the prime minister to announce his retirement from politics and foreshadowed the outcome of last week's vote. For once, the pundits were correct.
In last weekend's ballot, conservative parties won 399 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly. Socialists claimed 141 seats, down from their pre-election strength of 250. The rest of the seats were claimed by fringe parties, mostly of the left. The National Front, which is headed by Mr. Le Pen, was shut out.