'No' campaign trains its guns on Mitterrand

FRANCE'S anti-Maastricht campaign will train its guns on Francois Mitterrand in the final two weeks before the vote on 20 September. The 'yes' vote is rising, but a substantial minority of the population has yet to be convinced either way.

President Mitterrand's high- profile intervention in the debate last week - a televised confrontation with members of the public, journalists, and Philippe Seguin, one of the leaders of the 'no' campaign - may have made the difference between defeat and victory for the treaty on European union. The latest polls show that Mr Mitterrand made an impact. A survey by IPSOS in Le Journal du Dimanche, taken after the television debate, showed 56 per cent of certain voters would vote 'yes' and 44 per cent 'no'. It said 24 per cent of the electorate would abstain. A survey by CSA in Saturday's Le Parisien found a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent in favour of a 'yes' vote.

The 'no' campaign is regrouping after what is perceived as a defeat. There is a widespread feeling that although Mr Seguin may have made most of the running against the President, most French people did not watch the last part of the programme, when the two faced off. And Mr Seguin, rather than confronting Mr Mitterrand head- on, was too correct, too polite.

Mr Seguin and Charles Pasqua, another leading anti-Maastricht leader, conceded yesterday they had lost ground. 'After the 'yes' supporters piled on so much pressure, there would be grounds for despair if they hadn't made some progress in public opinion,' Mr Pasqua said. But he added that the 'no' campaign would push on, and target Mr Mitterrand. 'It's going to be harder and harder to see a difference between the Maastricht vote and a vote to sanction the President,' Mr Pasqua said.

With the President's popularity at record lows and between 20 per cent and 40 per cent of the electorate uncommitted, there are too many uncertainties hanging over the treaty to judge the outcome. It remains to be seen whether the poll-lead 'bounce' established after the President's defiant, often passionate, television appearance can be maintained.

The 'yes' campaign hopes that its opponents peaked in late August, when polls showed a majority for 'no'. Since then, a political offensive has been launched. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, a former president and leader of the centrist UDF, and Jacques Chirac, leader of the Gaullist RPR, have committed themselves to the treaty in the last 10 days. And a clutch of European leaders have thrown their weight behind the treaty.

Mr Seguin and Mr Pasqua have sent an open letter to the Financial Times and the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspapers to explain their position. 'We would like to make it clear to all Europeans that a 'no' vote from France on Maastricht would not signify a 'no' to Europe,' it says. 'It would rather be a 'no' to a bureaucratic vision of Europe.'

The official campaign opens today. Television advertising will add to the media barrage that has hit the French. There are to be no fewer than 12 opinion polls, not counting ones conducted by banks and other private institutions. The published surveys stop a week before polling, by French law.

----------------------------------------------------------------- CSA French Opinion Polls ----------------------------------------------------------------- Date Yes No 3 June 69 31 19 August 53 47 28 August 47 53 4 September 55 45 -----------------------------------------------------------------

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