Stinging setback in regional elections for Sarkozy’s party
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PARIS - The French president's Nicolas Sarkozy right has suffered a stinging setback Sunday in the first round of regional elections over the opposition of Socialist and Green, set to win the election largely in the second round next Sunday.
- The first round also showed a marked rise of the extreme right National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, who achieves a score above 10%, well above the results obtained in recent legislative and European consultations.
According to estimates of pollsters TNS-Sofres and OpinionWay Socialist Party received 29.1 to 30% of the vote and the right-wing party UMP presidential 26.7% to 27.3%.
In the second round next Sunday, the PS can count on the votes of ecologists (12.3 to 13.1%) and the Radical Left (around 6%), facing an unqualified right to vote.
The left, which since 2004 led 24 of the 26 French regions (including overseas), hopes to be able to achieve the "grand slam" and win in the only regions that still escape them- Corsica and Alsace -, mens for them to regain credibility against a right victim of the unpopularity of Nicolas Sarkozy.
"The French say (to the majority): we do not want this policy unfair and inefficient, we do not want this policy that breaks what France loves most in her: its social model, equality fraternity" said the leader of PS Martine Aubry, asking voters of the left to "amplify" the movement in the second round.
This election, in which 44.2 million voters are to elect councilors who make up the regional assemblies, was also marked by a record abstention above 52%. In the first round of the regional in 2004, it had been 39.16%.
"The low turnout can not permit to learn from this national election. Contrary to predictions, nothing is played for the second tour, everything remains open," said Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
This is the last intermediate before the presidential elections 2012.
Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated that the elections were regional and that they could not have national implications. He has ruled this week in advance any major reshuffle, without excluding "some governmental adjustments.
But the head of state, who records almost 60% of negative opinions according to the latest barometer of opinion, said he would listen to the message of voters.
The president had in recent months to face the economic crisis and its consequences on employment with an unemployment rate of 10%, the highest for 10 years. He was also criticized for his handling of several issues, like the report of the French society on immigration during a debate on national identity that he had initiated.
The victory of the Left that has emerged for the second round next Sunday should be a huge success for Martine Aubry, seeking legitimacy to impose herself as the best candidate from her camp in 2012 against her rival Ségolène Royal and popular Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the current director of IMF.
In his fiefdom of Poitou-Charentes (center-west), Ségolène Royal, the defeated candidate of the 2007 presidential isolated within her party, came out on top.
The centrist Democratic Movement (Modem) of François Bayrou, who was the third man in the 2007 presidential election, has received only 3.4 to 4% of the votes. For him, it is a heavy personal defeat.
In the Provence-Côte d'Azur (southeast), Jean-Marie Le Pen, 81, who delivers his last electoral battle, has won 20% according to TNS Sofres.
Ennaharonline/ M. O.
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