Editing Jean-Pierre Raffarin (section)

===Prime minister===
[[File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit 4 December 2003 Paris (5).jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Raffarin and [[Mikuláš Dzurinda]] in Paris, December 2003]]
[[File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit Meise 16-17 June 2004 (9).jpg|thumb|Raffarin with Italian prime minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]], June 2004]]
During the [[2002 French presidential election|2002 presidential campaign]], he advocated the union of the right behind the incumbent President Chirac. After his re-election, Chirac wished to give a sign of political renewal. Furthermore, elected in a special second round by a majority of left-wing voters, he searched for a moderate to lead the cabinet and the [[2002 French legislative election|June 2002 legislative campaign]]. Raffarin participated in the formation of the [[Union for a Popular Movement]] (UMP). He criticized the [[Iraq War|American-led intervention in Iraq.]]<ref>{{cite web |title=French PM:Iraq crisis not a game |url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/02/07/sprj.irq.france/index.html |website=www.cnn.com |access-date=February 7, 2003}}</ref>

His political policies combined [[authority]] and moderate economical liberalism – that is, the support of [[laissez-faire]] economic policies. In 2003 he launched reforms of the public retirement scheme and of [[decentralisation]], which led to many strikes. During the summer of 2003 the country experienced an unusual [[European Heat Wave of 2003|heat wave]] which caused the death of nearly 15,000 people. The perceived late reaction of the government was blamed on his administration. In 2004 he began a reform of the French state-run health-care system.

Raffarin's governments were known for their internal quarrels with various ministers taking opposite positions in public. The alleged lack of authority of the Prime Minister was mocked by the media.

On 28 March 2004 the ruling [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]] party suffered an important defeat during the [[2004 French regional elections|regional elections]], with all but one ''[[List of regions in France|région]]'' out of 22 of mainland France going to the opposition ([[French Socialist Party|PS]], [[French Communist Party|PCF]], [[Europe Écologie–The Greens|Les Verts]]). This was generally interpreted, including by Raffarin himself in his post-election speech, as "a sign of distrust against the government from the electorate". On 30 March 2004 Jean-Pierre Raffarin tendered the resignation of his government to president Jacques Chirac, who immediately re-appointed him prime minister, with the delegation to form a new government. This major cabinet reshuffle removed some of its most controversial ministers like [[Luc Ferry]] (education) or [[Jean-François Mattei]] (health).