French Prime Minister Alain Juppe campaigning for the May 25 elections in Paris on Wednesday.

PARIS, May 7: Philosophically diving into the campaigns for parliamentary elections, President Jacques Chirac today asked the French for a ``new elan'' in a letter published by provincial newspapers.

In a text kept secret until early Wednesday morning, Chirac bypassed all of France's Paris-based national media to address the nation's biggest issues in a reflective if partisan statement.

``France has need of a new elan,'' he wrote in the letter to 14 regional newspapers. Our world is undergoing irreversible evolutions. Are we going to turn our backs... Or seize our chance?''

Chirac abruptly dissolved the Parliament last month and called new elections for May 25 and June one, ten months early.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.