I am withdrawing from political life: when Lionel Jospin acknowledged his resounding failure in the first round of the 2002 presidential election.

Lionel Jospin dies at the age of 88

Lionel Jospin passed away at the age of 88, it was learned on March 23. The surprise was total in 2002 when he failed to qualify for the second round of the presidential election, leaving Jean-Marie Le Pen in a duel with Jacques Chirac.

Shock waves. On April 21, 2002, at the evening of the first round of the French presidential election, Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin was eliminated in the first round, overtaken by Jean-Marie Le Pen. A major and unexpected political setback.

A few minutes after the announcement of the results, Lionel Jospin took the floor and uttered the phrase that remained in memory: “I withdraw from political life”, amid the cries of his supporters, announcing that he would “fully assume the responsibilities of this failure.”

Fighting against the far-right party

An immediate decision ending several decades of political career, which surprised even his own camp and earned him a lot of criticism. Often perceived as the result of excessive pride, political commentators believe that by remaining at the head of the plural left, he could have prevented the Socialist Party from suffering a heavy defeat in the legislative elections of June 2002.

Five days later, as the second round of the election takes place on May 5, the former Prime Minister called to “fight against the far-right party without illusions” of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Jacques Chirac was ultimately re-elected by a wide margin.