France's Sarkozy set for big parliamentary majority
Friday, 15 June 2007
PARIS, Jun 14 (Reuters): French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to win a huge parliamentary majority to help him push through tax and labour reforms when voters cast ballots for the fourth time in eight weeks in a run-off election Sunday.
The vote will end a marathon campaign that in effect started more than a year ago and leave the newly-installed Sarkozy controlling most of the levers of power in France.
Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party is expected to win between 394 and 434 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, leaving the opposition Socialists with between 105 and 131 deputies and just a handful for smaller parties like the Communists and Greens, according to an opinion poll Thursday.
If correct, it would be the first time that a ruling party has been re-elected in the country of just over 60 million people since 1978.
The previously lackluster campaign has been jolted by a row over a possible increase in Value Added Tax of up to five percentage points, which the government says would allow it to cut charges elsewhere and boost job creation.
The opposition says the proposal is unfair and would choke economic growth in France, the second biggest economy in the euro zone, seizing on the issue as the clearest hope of cutting the UMP's lead.
But Socialist leaders, struggling to contain party feuding following their presidential defeat, are under no illusion about Sunday's outcome and have been reduced to warning of the danger to democracy if Sarkozy gains too large a majority.
"We have to raise dikes, not against a wave but against a tsunami that is an insult to democracy," defeated Socialist presidential candidate, Segolene Royal, told supporters this week.
Although as president he is supposed to remain above the fray of the election campaign, Sarkozy's influence has been inescapable. He dismissed left-wing concerns over the dominance of his party, accusing the Socialists of being bad losers.
"It's a curious idea to say that democracy would be under threat just because the French haven't voted left," he said.
The president names the prime minister and government and wields great power over foreign policy and the armed forces. But without support in parliament, Sarkozy would be unable to push through the ambitious domestic reforms he plans.
The government, under recently-appointed Prime Minister Francois Fillon has already begun work ahead of a special sitting of parliament in July during which a range of measures from tax cuts to tougher immigration rules will be debated.
It has outlined a package of fiscal stimulus measures that have been generally welcomed by voters, with tax breaks on overtime work and mortgage interest payments and measures to limit inheritance tax.
But after months of speeches, television debates, newspaper polls and radio interviews, there are clear signs that voter interest has been flagging.
In contrast to the charged presidential campaign, which saw a voter turnout of more than 80 per cent, the parliamentary election has been relatively low key. Only about 60 per cent of the electorate voted in the first round -- a record low.
Voting starts in mainland France at 0600 GMT. First television projections of the results are expected when polling stations close at 1800 GMT.
With the result apparently clear, interest will focus on senior figures such as Alain Juppe, environment minister and number two in the government, and former Socialist Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who face serious challenges.
The vote will end a marathon campaign that in effect started more than a year ago and leave the newly-installed Sarkozy controlling most of the levers of power in France.
Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party is expected to win between 394 and 434 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, leaving the opposition Socialists with between 105 and 131 deputies and just a handful for smaller parties like the Communists and Greens, according to an opinion poll Thursday.
If correct, it would be the first time that a ruling party has been re-elected in the country of just over 60 million people since 1978.
The previously lackluster campaign has been jolted by a row over a possible increase in Value Added Tax of up to five percentage points, which the government says would allow it to cut charges elsewhere and boost job creation.
The opposition says the proposal is unfair and would choke economic growth in France, the second biggest economy in the euro zone, seizing on the issue as the clearest hope of cutting the UMP's lead.
But Socialist leaders, struggling to contain party feuding following their presidential defeat, are under no illusion about Sunday's outcome and have been reduced to warning of the danger to democracy if Sarkozy gains too large a majority.
"We have to raise dikes, not against a wave but against a tsunami that is an insult to democracy," defeated Socialist presidential candidate, Segolene Royal, told supporters this week.
Although as president he is supposed to remain above the fray of the election campaign, Sarkozy's influence has been inescapable. He dismissed left-wing concerns over the dominance of his party, accusing the Socialists of being bad losers.
"It's a curious idea to say that democracy would be under threat just because the French haven't voted left," he said.
The president names the prime minister and government and wields great power over foreign policy and the armed forces. But without support in parliament, Sarkozy would be unable to push through the ambitious domestic reforms he plans.
The government, under recently-appointed Prime Minister Francois Fillon has already begun work ahead of a special sitting of parliament in July during which a range of measures from tax cuts to tougher immigration rules will be debated.
It has outlined a package of fiscal stimulus measures that have been generally welcomed by voters, with tax breaks on overtime work and mortgage interest payments and measures to limit inheritance tax.
But after months of speeches, television debates, newspaper polls and radio interviews, there are clear signs that voter interest has been flagging.
In contrast to the charged presidential campaign, which saw a voter turnout of more than 80 per cent, the parliamentary election has been relatively low key. Only about 60 per cent of the electorate voted in the first round -- a record low.
Voting starts in mainland France at 0600 GMT. First television projections of the results are expected when polling stations close at 1800 GMT.
With the result apparently clear, interest will focus on senior figures such as Alain Juppe, environment minister and number two in the government, and former Socialist Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who face serious challenges.