A rush of government action matched [Jacques Chirac]'s bristling tone. His lieutenants successfully bargained for the release Wednesday of the last three French hostages in Beirut. On Thursday, the French army wiped out a nest of Melanesian separatists holding 23 hostages in New Caledonia. Le Quotidien de Paris, a newspaper that supports Chirac, headlined both events "The Fruits of Action."

Chirac qualified for Sunday's runoff election by finishing second to [Francois Mitterrand] in the first round of voting April 24-but it was not a strong second-place finish. While Mitterrand took 34.1% of the vote, Chirac had only 19.9%, the lowest score of any finalist since popular elections of French presidents began in 1965.

Most analysts say they believe the Chirac camp botched this. The blame fell mainly on Interior Minister Charles Pasqua, Chirac's campaign strategist, who, while trying to woo [Jean-Marie Le Pen], told an interviewer a week ago that he believed that the National Front party of Le Pen had "the same values" as Chirac and his allies.