Former French Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has died at the age of 88.
In addition to his achievements as head of government from the late 1990s, he will be remembered as a two-time presidential candidate who in 2002 suffered a stunning first-round humiliation from the far-right’s Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Before that Jospin had served five years as prime minister under conservative president Jacques Chirac.
Chirac defeated him in the 1995 presidential race, but then lost a snap parliamentary vote in 1997, forcing him into so-called “cohabitation” with the left.
In power, Jospin formed an alliance with Communists and Greens. His government enacted important changes like the 35-hour working week, which is still in force today though much criticised by business.
Resisting pressure from the right and the church, Jospin also introduced the so-called PACS civil ceremony for homosexual couples, a precursor of gay marriage.
But he angered many on the left by continuing the privatisation policies first undertaken by the previous right-wing government. On television, he let out the phrase “People cannot expect everything from the state and the government.”