Chirac Withdraws Bill on University Reforms

PARIS — Premier Jacques Chirac, under intense political pressure in a worsening crisis, capitulated Monday to protesting students and withdrew the university reform bill that had set off three weeks of strikes, demonstrations and riots.

Student leaders received the news with as much bitterness as joy, for it came on a day when they were mourning the death of a 22-year-old student who had been beaten by policemen. After a hurried meeting, the leaders refused to cancel their call for a demonstration and a general strike on Wednesday.

The withdrawal of the university bill was welcomed by President Francois Mitterrand. Presidential aides told reporters that Mitterrand, a Socialist, had urged Chirac, a conservative, to withdraw the bill as long ago as last Wednesday, on the eve of the massive student demonstration that led to three days of violence. Mitterrand, according to the aides, repeated his demand at a tense meeting Saturday after the death of the student, Malik Oussekine.

In a symbolic act that might enrage extreme rightists who believe that the police have been maligned for the force used to put down some of the demonstrations, Mitterrand joined the mourners for Oussekine on Monday and spent half an hour with his family.

“I came to bear witness for the nation before this great unhappiness,” the president said.

A Political Embarrassment

Withdrawal of the bill amounted to a political embarrassment for Chirac. But the political consequences obviously could have been worse if he had insisted on keeping the bill before the National Assembly.

Chirac and his most rightist aides did not want him, on principle, to seem to give in to pressure. But this position, especially after the death of Oussekine, began to appear foolhardy, and members of his Cabinet, publicly in one case, urged him to withdraw the bill.

In a short, televised address to the nation after a special meeting with most of his Cabinet, Chirac said there could be no university reform without the support of the professors and students.

“That can only be done in calm,” he said. “It clearly appears that this is not the case today. Demonstrations going on now, with all the risks of violence and the dangers they entail for all, are the proof. That is why I have decided to withdraw the bill.”

Chirac insisted that university reform is still necessary, but he said his government will not propose new legislation until after consulting with all parties concerned.

Throughout France, schools and businesses halted for up to an hour to protest the death of Oussekine. Subway motormen walked off the job in Paris, and air traffic controllers held up a dozen flights. More than 30,000 students marched through the streets of Paris.

Chirac’s announcement came an hour before the march. In the emotionally charged atmosphere, it seemed brittle and late.

“The life of a student against a piece of legislation,” one student said. “The account is not good.”

It was not yet clear what the students, who have won all they demanded, intend to do Wednesday. Their spokesman, David Assouline, said the leaders decided to continue their call for a demonstration and general strike but will meet again today to decide what form the demonstration is to take. The trade unions have been divided about the wisdom of a general strike.

Explaining why student leaders decided to go ahead with their call for a strike and demonstration, Assouline said the government has not withdrawn a second objectionable bill dealing with lycees, the French high schools. But a few hours later, the government announced that it was withdrawing this bill as well.

The students seemed confused by Chirac’s timing in capitulating, by his waiting until after three violent evenings.

“We can’t understand why this decision to withdraw the bill did not happen until Monday,” Assouline said. “Why not Thursday evening, which was a day of festival that ended in repression? They say that we are irresponsible. Who is irresponsible?”

The university reform bill would have allowed universities, all government-run, to set their own entry requirements, create new systems for entering higher courses, raise registration fees and issue separate diplomas. At present, for the most part, all students who have passed the stringent baccalaureate examination at the end of high school may enter a university and receive a national diploma that is the same throughout the country.