By Amalat Goglik with AFP
Published on
Former French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, a socialist who introduced the 35-hour work week and extended free healthcare, has died aged 88, his family said Monday.
Jospin — who was head of government from 1997 to 2002 before losing to the far right in presidential polls — died on Sunday.
He had said he had a “serious operation” and had returned home to rest in January, without providing details.
Born 12 July 1937 in Meudon to Protestant parents, Jospin studied at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris before attending the École Nationale d’Administration, France’s elite institution for senior civil servants.
His father Robert was a schoolteacher and organiser of the French Section of the Workers’ International, predecessor to the Socialist Party. His mother Mireille was a midwife who later became a nurse and school social worker.
Jospin served as First Secretary of the Socialist Party and held ministerial posts under François Mitterrand before becoming prime minister in 1997.
He led a broad left-wing coalition known as the “gauche plurielle” in a cohabitation arrangement with centre-right President Jacques Chirac.
As prime minister, Jospin reduced the working week to 35 hours, extended free healthcare through universal health coverage and introduced civil unions that gave unmarried couples, including same-sex partnerships, equal rights to those who married.
He pursued what he called a middle ground between socialism and capitalism, captured in his slogan: “Yes to the market economy, no to a market society.”
Despite reforms, Jospin never endeared himself to voters, who largely saw him as too serious, especially compared to the more chummy and charismatic Chirac.
He ran for president in 2002 but was eliminated in the first round after far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen advanced to the runoff against Chirac. Jospin announced his retirement from politics on election night.
He later served on France’s Constitutional Council from 2015 to 2019.
