Chirac picks ally as premier

PARIS — President Jacques Chirac of France named his longtime protege Dominique de Villepin as prime minister on Tuesday in an effort to restore confidence in the French government after the country's decisive rejection of a constitution for Europe.

In a televised address on Tuesday evening, Chirac announced the dismissal of Jean-Pierre Raffarin as prime minister and confessed that the rejection of the referendum on the European Union Constitution on Sunday had triggered a period of "difficulties and uncertainties" that required the French to "rally together around the national interest."

He promised that the top priority of the new government would be job creation, an acknowledgment that opposition to the constitution was motivated as much over anxiety over the French economy as it was over fears of an enlarged Europe.

Still, his choice for prime minister carries the risk of again painting Chirac as out of touch with his electorate over the economy: De Villepin, despite his crucial role in opposing the United States on the Iraq war, lacks credentials on economic policy.

The French Cabinet shift comes on the eve of a similar referendum on the European Union Constitution in the Netherlands, where up to 62 percent of the Dutch electorate was poised to vote "no," according to a poll published in the newspaper De Volkskrant on Tuesday.

Dutch voters have some of the same complaints as the French, including dissatisfaction with the government in power and fear of losing rights and benefits in a more powerful Europe.

A Dutch rejection of the constitution, following France's "no" vote on Sunday, is likely to kill the constitution at least in its present form, because it requires approval by all 25 EU members.

In a sign of increased anxiety about the future of Europe, the euro fell again following Chirac's announcement and sank to an eight-month low of $1.2297 in trading on Tuesday before rising again.

Underscoring his struggles in the last two years of his presidency, Chirac also announced in his address that he was appointing a political foe, Nicolas Sarkozy, the head of their ruling center-right party, to a key Cabinet post with the lofty title of minister of state.

Sarkozy, 50, who is the most popular politician on the right and was a leading candidate for the prime minister's job, is widely expected to also be named interior minister. He held that job once before, and it is considered the most important Cabinet post after that of prime minister.