President Rocard

He couldn't have.

In 1995, Rocard was hampered by his poor performance as Secretary-General of the Socialist Party ; having seized power within the party after the 1993 parliamentary elections disaster, he has been responsible for the poor performance in the 1994 european elections and was violently contested by the left, not to mention that he still had to cope with Mitterrand's hostility. His personal popularity would not have been sufficient to secure his position as presidential candidate, which is actually the reason why he didn't run as "candidate to candidacy". Jacques Delors, who shared the same moderate-modernist position, was actually the prefered candidate but he declined, mentioning his poor health (and the fact he could not implement his program if elected, because he would have lacked a majority in his own party).
 

Hendryk

Banned
This would require a POD in 1988, with Mitterrand picking someone else as prime minister. That way Rocard wouldn't suffer from Mitterrand's quiet backstabbing and keep his chances as a presidential hopeful.
 
I agree with Captain Poplar as to why Rocard couldn't be a candidate in 1995. I think, however, that his performance as Prime Minister (1988-1991), is essential to his credibility, so I would put the POD in 1993-1994.

2 possilibities: Rocard has an accident (boating, glider, or just a car accident) and cannot lead the Socialists for the European Elections of 94, but recovers swiftly enough to run for President in 1995

Bernard Tapie is unable to lead the Radical list (let HIM have an accident!) that did so much damage to Rocard's list. Without Tapie, the Radicals get their usual 4-5% of the vote and Rocard remains First Secretary of the Socialist Party and has a slim chance to beat Chirac in 1995

The other possibility for a POD would be Mitterrand not running in 1988, and it could only be because of his health. Lets not forget that he was diagnosed with cancer in 1981, and was not expected to live more than a couple of years. His recovery in OTL is actually quite miraculous.

With Mitterrand out of the picture in 1988, Rocard almost automatically gets the candidacy for the Socialist Party, and against Chirac, he has a pretty good chance to win.
 
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