France's Le Pen calls for Chirac's resignation following 'no'

PARIS - French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen called for the resignation of President Jacques Chirac following the rejection of the EU constitution in a referendum Sunday.
"It opens up a future if the president draws the correct consequences from the results of this referendum -- in other words his resignation," Le Pen said on national television.
"He is deeply implicated. Instead of remaining neutral in the debate as his function required, he tried to influence it with all his weight -- including via threats.
"In these conditions he is no longer qualified to stay at the head of the country. Not just he but his government must hand back their mandate to the people who spoke so unmistakeably this evening," the leader of the National Front (FN) said.

05/29/2005 20:26 GMT