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Europe
Socialists win majority of votes in French municipal elections
2008-03-10
Oh, bother.
The Socialist and Green parties won 47.5 percent of the votes in the first round of the French municipal elections, which kick-off here earlier today, according to exit polls. The polls revealed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right party registered a major drop during the first round of the local elections, winning only 40 percent of the votes.

Up to 44.5 million eligible voters are casting their votes for more than 287,000 candidates running for the elections. About 36,000 city mayors and 500,000 municipal councilors will be elected. The poll stations closed at 20:00 local time in the large cities and at 18: 00 in the smaller ones.

The second and final round of the elections is due on March 16, where candidates who scored more than 10 percent in the first round will be continuing their fight, whereas candidates win outright with more than 50 percent today.

These elections are considered the first "significant electoral test" for Sarkozy since taking office in May 2007. The Socialist party called for "punishing" Sarkozy through the elections as they are fighting to win the cities had lost to the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in the 2001 elections. According to polls, the Socialists and the left-wing party are expected to gain an "easy" win in Paris and other prominent cities, such as Paris, Lyon, Lille, Toulouse and Strasbourg.

In the 2001 municipal elections, Socialist Bertrand Delanoe won Paris while this year Francoise de Panafieu will represent the UMP party as the right tries to regain the capital but polls indicate that Delanoe is favored to win an easy re-election. According to reports, two-thirds of Sarkozy's 22-member cabinet are competing for municipal seats, in addition to his son Jean Sarkozy, 21, who is running for a seat in the posh Neuilly-sur-Seine suburb in Paris, where his fathers political career began as mayor for 19 years.

The UMP ruling party currently controls 55 percent of the 230 French cities.
Posted by:Seafarious

#1  I wouldnt make too much of this. Over here, we tend to vote left in Council elections, for high public spending, then vote right in the General elections, for low taxes.

However, we are talking about France here, a socialist beast by nature - may well be that the power/money is local.
Posted by: Oscar Shins5027   2008-03-10 07:10  

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