Mitterrand Will Seek Reforms, May Quit Early

PARIS —  President Francois Mitterrand said Sunday that he will propose a major reform of the French constitution next year and hinted that he might step down before his term ends in 1995.

In an attempt to confound the conservative opposition and change the focus of political debate, he said the reforms will involve reducing the presidential term of office from seven years to five and increasing Parliament’s powers. He said it will be submitted to a referendum.

“I will correct these institutions . . . before I finish my term,” Mitterrand told La Cinq television, hinting that, if successful, he might leave office early.

“I will not leave without having changed these institutions or at least having put before Parliament and the French people the modifications I consider necessary.”

He said that a reduction of the presidential term mandate would not be legally binding on him, “but politically, morally, I am the sole judge of what I should do.”

Asked if he intends to serve out his full second term, Mitterrand, who turned 75 last month, said: “I, too, sometimes think 14 years is long.”

He said the best moment for a major institutional reform is between regional elections next March and the end of 1992, when the European Community’s single market comes into effect. New parliamentary elections are due in 1993.

Mitterrand’s surprise announcement comes as his Socialist government, beset by rising unemployment, a wave of strikes and financial scandals, is at a low ebb in public opinion polls.

The president said he has always opposed the present constitution, written by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, because it stifles parliamentary democracy and gives citizens too little recourse against injustice.

Among the reforms he proposed were enabling Parliament to initiate legislation and allowing all citizens to take cases to the Constitutional Court.

He also said he favored introducing an element of proportional representation into the system for parliamentary elections.