France's 2nd regional vote begins after Sarkozy defeat

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121334&sectionid=351020603


In France, people have started voting in the final round of regional elections expected to deal a tough blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The latest polls indicate that Sarkozy and his ruling party, Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), could lose all 22 metropolitan regions on mainland France.

Despite UMP's comfortable majority in the national parliament, the Sunday ballot is expected to be a 'humiliating' setback for Sarkozy after opposition Socialists gained the upper hand in the first round of the metropolitan elections meant to reshuffle local governments and maintain public buildings and institutes.

The Socialists managed to garner 30 percent of the vote compared to UMP's 26.5 percent ballot collection in March 14 elections which suffered from a low turnout.

The latest polls are the last big national test for the governing body before the presidential election in 2012.

Despite Sarkozy's brushing of the regional vote as a local ballot, the French president is, however, expected to make partial changes to his cabinet in the coming days.

Political analysts say Sarkozy's declining popularity is due to rising unemployment, the growing strain on public finances, and a series of controversies over issues ranging from lavish executive pay to immigration and security.
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2010 Mar 14

Polls: Heavy blow for Sarkozy in regional vote



Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120796&sectionid=351020603

Opinion polls suggest heavy losses for French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party in France's March 14 regional elections.

French citizens go to the polls on Sunday in order to decide the governments for 26 regions in metropolitan France and the overseas territories.

However, a recent poll conducted by the TNS Sofres polling institute put the opposition socialists ahead of Sarkozy's UMP by 2.5 percent.

The latest regional ballot has also been overshadowed by the country's 10 percent unemployment rate and growing financial constraints which polls say would undermine Sarkozy's rightist UMP party as leftists controlling 20 of the 22 mainland regions are gaining momentum ahead of 2012 presidential election, Reuters reported.

Sarkozy's approval ratings have dropped markedly since his election in 2007 and analysts predict a failure for his 2012 reelection bid.

"The balance of power is extremely favorable for the left," AFP quoted Frederic Dabi, another pollster at the IFOP polling agency, as saying.

Meanwhile, French daily newspaper Liberation described the two-round regional elections due March 14 and 21 as "the last vote before the presidential election in 2012, which can change the political landscape."
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2010 Mar 08

Sarkozy approval rating at lowest-ever level



Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120307&sectionid=351020603

In another major blow to the French president ahead of this month's local elections, a new poll suggests that Nicolas Sarkozy does not have the approval of 64 percent of the French.

Results of a CSA opinion poll published in Le Parisien daily suggested on Sunday that Sarkozy's approval rating sank 4 points in a month to stand at 36 percent — the lowest level since he came to power in 2007.

Critics on both sides of the French political spectrum attributed the low level of approval rating to economy saying unemployment was weighing in on the respondents minds.

"The government's strategy has led to more poverty and more unemployment, so the regional elections have come at the right moment," Socialist party spokesman Benoit Hamon told Canal+ television on Sunday, according to Reuters.

This, analysts maintain, could provide more fodder for those who want to challenge Sarkozy's leadership.

"A positive trend is opening up for all those who see themselves as alternatives to Nicolas Sarkozy, both on the left and the right," said political analyst Stephane Rozes.

Based on a separate CSA poll, leftwing groups would collect a combined 52 percent of the ballot in the local elections against a scanty 28 percent for center-right and rightist parties.

Sarkozy has suffered a host of setbacks in recent months, his authority damaged by internal party disputes, allegations of nepotism, a controversial debate on national identity and growing concerns over the ever-increasing debt and deficit levels.