
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 8, 1995                   TAG: 9505080125
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: PARIS                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHIRAC CAPTURES FRENCH ELECTION

Jacques Chirac, the conservative mayor of Paris, finally won France's presidency in his third attempt, defeating Lionel Jospin in a runoff Sunday to end 14 years of Socialist rule.

The right already controls 80 percent of the seats in parliament, and Chirac's victory gives conservatives their first chance since 1981 to exercise full control over foreign and domestic policy.

``I will be the president of all French people,'' Chirac declared in his victory speech. ``I know the difficulty of the task that awaits us.''

Jospin congratulated Chirac, wished him good luck and said his supporters had helped launch the troubled Socialist Party back on the road to recovery.

With all votes counted except for overseas possessions, Chirac led Jospin 52.7 percent to 47.3 percent, with 15,551,412 votes to 13,975,871.

Jospin had narrowed a large deficit in the polls in recent days, creating suspense in the battle to succeed Francois Mitterrand, France's longest-serving president.

The Socialist Mitterrand, 78 and ailing with prostate cancer, is expected to step down in about one week after 14 years in office. He sent telegrams congratulating Chirac and thanking Jospin for ``a campaign of force and hope.''

Champagne corks popped in Chirac headquarters, and supporters erupted into a chorus of ``La Marseillaise,'' the national anthem, when the projections were flashed onto TV screens. Later, tens of thousands of revelers flooded into the Place de la Concorde, waving flags and splashing in floodlit fountains as honking horns echoed throughout Paris.

President Clinton congratulated Chirac in a message relayed by the U.S. Embassy in Paris, according to a statement read by presidential spokesman Mike McCurry.

by CNB