PRESIDENT CHIRAC yesterday appeared to have failed in his attempt to turn the tide in France’s referendum on the European constitution with a two-hour television show.

More than seven million viewers watched M Chirac urge worried young voters not to be afraid of Europe. This was a few more than those who opted for a Clint Eastwood film on another channel. Gently he lectured a group of 18-30- year-olds, most of whom were hostile towards the constitution and ignorant of its content.

MPs from M Chirac’s own camp privately voiced disappointment over his performance. The mainly pro-constitution media said that he had missed an opportunity to break the momentum of the “no” campaign.

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former French President, who chaired the drafting of the constitution, was reported by Le Monde to have dismissed the head of state’s performance, saying: “Chirac is not credible on Europe.” The paper said that M Chirac, who spent much of his career as a Eurosceptic, was “tepid” and “did not manage to hide his lack of European faith”.

France Inter, the public radio network, said that M Chirac had restricted himself to “incantation about Europe”.

“Chirac struggles” was the headline of Le Parisien, a popular tabloid. “Even if the head of state managed, like a diesel engine, to pick up a bit of speed after a few minutes, the television viewer was given a confusing, at times populist, show that was on the whole sad and quite counter-productive,” it said.

Polls have indicated that 53 per cent of those intending to vote will reject the constitution. Forty per cent are said to be undecided.

In his broadcast, M Chirac, 72, exuded avuncular authority as he tried to reassure his questioners that the constitution would protect the French way of life while a “no” would play into “Anglo-Saxon” hands, turning Europe into a capitalist shell. France would be the “black sheep” of Europe if it voted “no”, he told his sometimes impertinent questioners.

The line that drew most comment yesterday was the President’s surprise over the pessimism that he found among his young audience. “I do not understand this fear,” he said repeatedly. “Do not be afraid.”

Opponents said that his amazement showed how out of touch he was with the mood of France after ten years in office.

Negative reaction from the media and public indicated that the President had fumbled his entry into the campaign by failing to connect with questioners who had little knowledge of the constitution but great anxiety about the future.

“We were all a bit disappointed,” said Camille, 26, who had questioned M Chirac in the television show, staged in the Elysée Palace. “We had the impression that everything was settled in advance. I don’t think that France had much explanation tonight.”

Criticism from opponents was predictably harsh, but media normally favourable to M Chirac and the constitution were also critical. Le Figaro, the most conservative and pro-government newspaper, said that the Chirac show was a missed opportunity. He had probably failed to persuade France that the constitution was not a British blueprint for a capitalist Europe.

“In front of an audience in which those favouring ‘no’ seemed to be in the majority, the head of state often struggled to make heard his pro-European plea during a muddled broadcast,” it added.

The Socialist Party leadership, who are campaigning for a “yes” in alliance with the Gaullist President, said only that the head of state had “done the job expected of him”.

Leaders of the left-wing “no” campaign tore into M Chirac’s arguments. Laurent Fabius, the Socialist deputy leader, said:

“I found M Chirac, like the constitution, long and not very convincing.

“I was very struck to see M Chirac saying, on the one hand, ‘Don’t be afraid’, but his main argument was to try to create fear.

“The emperor had no clothes,” Arnaud Montebourg, leader of a radical wing of the Socialists, said. “Chirac was incapable of replying to, or even hearing, the voice of the French.”

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