The president met with beleaguered Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin for 30 minutes at the palace Monday morning.

An aide to Raffarin said the prime minister was expected to present his resignation to Chirac later Monday, The Associated Press reported.

Aides to Raffarin were seen packing up boxes as their boss met with Chirac, AP said.

After the meeting, Raffarin said "there will be developments today or tomorrow."

He refused to say whether he had offered his resignation, telling reporters only: "I'm going for a stroll around Paris. See you later."

On Sunday night, Chirac dropped what has been described as his heaviest hint so far that he planned to remove Raffarin.

"I intend to respond ... by giving a new and strong impetus to the action of the government," Chirac said in a televised address soon after the result was announced.

He said French voters had made their "sovereign decision, and I note it."

With votes counted in all of France and its overseas territories, the "No" camp had 54.87 percent, with only 45.13 percent voting "Yes," according to figures released by France's Interior Ministry.

Source For Full Article : http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/05/30/france.eu/index.html

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