Leaders:
Chief of State—President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981);
Head of Government—Prime Minister Michel ROCARD (since 10 March 1988)
Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR, formerly UDR),
Jacques Chirac; Union for French Democracy (UDF, federation of PR, CDS, and
RAD), Valery Giscard d'Estaing; Republicans (PR), Francois Leotard;
Center for Social Democrats (CDS), Pierre Mehaignerie; Radical
(RAD), Yves Gallard; Socialist Party (PS), Pierre Mauroy; Left Radical
Movement (MRG), Yves Collin; Communist Party (PCF), Georges
Marchais; National Front (FN), Jean-Marie Le Pen
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President—last held 8 May 1988 (next to be held May 1995); results—Second Ballot Francois Mitterrand 54%, Jacques Chirac 46%;
Senate—last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(321 total; 296 metropolitan France, 13 for overseas departments and territories, and 12 for French nationals abroad) RPR 93, UDF 143 (PR 53, CDS 65, RAD 25), PS 64, PCF 16, independents 2, unknown 3;
National Assembly—last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results—Second Ballot PS-MRG 48.7%, RPR 23.1%, UDF 21%, PCF 3.4%, other 3.8%; seats—(577 total) PS 275, RPR 132, UDF 90, UDC 40, PCF 25, independents 15
Communists: 700,000 claimed but probably closer to 150,000; Communist voters, 2.8 million in 1988 election
Other political or pressure groups: Communist-controlled labor union (Confederation Generale du Travail) nearly 2.4 million members (claimed); Socialist-leaning labor union (Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail or CFDT) about 800,000 members est.; independent labor union (Force Ouvriere) about 1,000,000 members est.; independent white-collar union (Confederation Generale des Cadres) 340,000 members (claimed); National Council of French Employers (Conseil National du Patronat Francais—CNPF or Patronat)
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EIB, EMS,
ESA, ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA,
IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO,
INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling
Commission, NATO (signatory), OAS (observer), OECD, SPC, UN, UNESCO,
UPU, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO