Death announced by family

Édouard Balladur, who served as France's prime minister from 1993 to 1995, died in Paris on Monday at the age of 97, his family told AFP. A private Mass will be held for him, his family said, without giving further details.

Political career

Balladur was born in 1929 in İzmir, in what was then the Ottoman Empire, and emigrated to France as a child. He began his political career working alongside Georges Pompidou, and later served as economy minister under President Jacques Chirac in the 1980s.

As prime minister under President François Mitterrand, Balladur carried out several major privatisations of state companies, including the sale of Société Générale, Paribas, and TF1. He also pushed through a reform of the pension system.

The 1995 presidential election

Balladur ran for president in 1995, but was defeated in the first round of voting by his former ally and rival, Jacques Chirac, who went on to win the presidency and remain in office until 2007. Balladur later reflected on the loss with characteristic reserve: "Moved? No. I would not have been more moved if I had won."

In his later years, Balladur acknowledged his shortcomings as a candidate, conceding in 2016: "I was not a dream-maker." His reputation suffered during the campaign, and he was later embroiled in a legal case over allegedly misappropriated public funds, but was cleared of wrongdoing in 2021.

Reactions

President Emmanuel Macron described Balladur as a man who "had France at heart" and a "devoted servant of the nation."

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who worked under Balladur and regarded him as a mentor, said he had lost "an example, a mentor and a friend." In a post on X, Sarkozy wrote: "Tonight, I mourn the loss of one of the men who mattered most in my life."

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who announced Balladur's death, said he "was associated with 50 years of the history of the Fifth Republic" and was "a great servant of the state."

Legacy and controversies

Balladur's premiership was marked by a sweeping privatisation programme, selling state-owned companies including banks and broadcaster TF1. He described the market as "the law of the jungle" in a 1993 speech.

In 1995, he ran for president against his former ally and mentor, Jacques Chirac. His campaign was embroiled in allegations of illegal financing, which led to charges against him in 2019. In 2021, he was acquitted by the Court of Justice of the Republic, which ruled that "a quarter-century of slander" had not been proven. His former campaign manager, Nicolas Bazire, was also acquitted, while former minister François Léotard was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Balladur never returned to government after his defeat. He remained a respected elder statesman, occasionally consulted by successive presidents.

At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former French prime minister.