Sarkozy party heads for landslide in French parliament

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PARIS, Jun 11 (AFP): President Nicolas Sarkozy's right wing party was headed for a landslide victory that would hand him a sweeping mandate to reform France, after the first round of parliamentary elections Sunday.
One month after Sarkozy's presidential election victory over Socialist Segolene Royal, his UMP party and its allies were projected to win up to 501 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly.
Based on estimates after the close of polls, the Union for a Popular Movement and its centrist allies were predicted to secure 383-501 seats after next Sunday's run-off. The UMP holds 359 seats in the outgoing lower house.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon urged French voters to turn out en masse next Sunday to give his government "a majority to act".
"The drive is there, but it can only take shape through a large, coherent presidential majority, determined to move forwards," he said.
Sarkozy's party has been riding high on the president's popularity since he came to power promising to revive France's ailing economy, control immigration and crack down on crime.
Two thirds of the French think Sarkozy has done a good job in his short time in office, according to surveys.
Confident of an electoral triumph, Sarkozy has promised a special session of parliament in July to push through a raft of tax and job market reforms, a toughening of crime and immigration rules and more autonomy for universities.
In disarray following Royal's defeat, the main opposition Socialist Party (PS) faced the prospect of another humiliating ballot box drubbing.
Projections from polling firms showed the Socialists could lose more than half of their 149 seats.
In the worst case scenario it will sink to depths last plumbed in 1993, when it returned just 67 law-makers, although other projections suggested it could win as many as 170 deputies.