3/29/15, "French Conservatives Win Key Local Voting, Gov't Left Loses," AP, by Sylvie Corbet and Elaine Ganley, Paris
"Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
blasted the "lies, denial and impotence" of France's governing
Socialists after estimates showed his conservative party and their
allies chalked up wins across France
in Sunday's local elections that saw the left lose nearly half of its
councils. The far-right National Front edged forward in its bid to
create an army of grassroots support, but fell short of its dream to
capture its first council.
Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls conceded that the mainstream right won the voting. "It is incontestable," Valls said, bemoaning divisions within the left that he said proved costly.
The Socialists even lost its hold on the council in Correze, President
Francois Hollande's home away from home in the French heartland, taken
back by the right, the Interior Ministry said.
Valls' political fief, the Essonne, south of Paris, appeared headed for a victory by the rival right.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration National Front, may be in
for a bitter surprise, apparently failing to win a single council, even
the southern Vaucluse where her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen, one of
three party lawmakers, is a major figure. The National Front chief was
triumphant after last week's first round when her party took 25 percent
of the vote, second behind the mainstream right. Still, her party can
claim as many as 90 councilors around France.
The Interior Ministry, counting results of 66 of 98 regions, said
Sarkozy's UMP and its allies won 46 percent of the vote, compared to 34
percent for the left and 20 percent for the National Front. Sarkozy, in a victory statement, said the right would prepare a changing
of the guard "to redress the country, stop the decline that the most
archaic socialism in Europe has plunged it into."
Estimates suggested the anti-immigration National Front could win up to
two councils with scores that Valls said were "clearly in progression."
The political stakes were high despite the local vote as Hollande's left
tried to save itself after failing to boost the lagging French economy
or increase jobs and Sarkozy's right eyed a comeback, and each side
tried to fend off the anti-immigration National Front which comes off a
series of electoral victories.
The elections were a "critical step for the patriot movement on the road
to power," National Front leader Marine Le Pen said. "The goal is near,
reaching power and applying our ideas to redress France."
Valls had called on voters to choose anyone running, even a rival
conservative, to block a National Front candidate, and he suggested the
large victory by the right was partially because of his calls for
solidarity against the far right. Sarkozy refused to reciprocate, telling supporters to simply abstain if a candidate from his UMP party wasn't running.
Valls said the French economy was showing signs of improvement, and vowed to march onward with his program. "Jobs. Jobs. Jobs," Valls said, announcing plans for a new measure in the coming days addressing public and private investment.
Turnout was lower three hours before polls closed, measured at 41.94
percent compared to 42.98 percent in the first round, the Interior
Ministry said.
Voters cast ballots to choose 4,108 local council members across the
country for the 98 councils. Candidates appear on ballots in pairs — one
man, one woman — to ensure that 50 percent of council members are
women.
Le Pen, who wasn't a candidate in the election but looked toward the
2017 presidential race, said Sunday that new council members would help
win future elections, saying her party is the "only real opposition" to
the powers that be in France.
Regional elections are set for December, and all parties are laying the groundwork for 2017 presidential voting."
================================
3/29/15, "French local elections: Exit polls suggest Conservative win," BBC
"France's Conservative UMP Party and its allies appear to have come first in the final round of departmental elections.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front also appeared to have made gains, while the ruling Socialists and their allies may lose about 30 departments.
These elections are seen as a test case ahead of 2017's presidential election.
Paris and Lyon, France's two biggest cities, were excluded from Sunday's election.
The National Front appeared to have won a significant number of seats in Sunday's second round of elections, but did not appear to have gained control of any councils, the exit polls said....
French Prime Minister Manual Valls admitted it was "incontestable" that the Socialist Party had lost ground.
"The French have declared... their anger at a daily life that is too difficult," he said. He vowed to redouble efforts to boost the economy, and said his focus was "jobs, jobs, jobs".
He added that the rise in the National Front's popularity was "a sign of a lasting upheaval of our political landscape and we will all need to draw lessons from it".
Mr Sarkozy said voters had "massively rejected" the policies of his successor as president, Francois Hollande.
"Never has our political family won so many councils," he told supporters. "The repudiation of those in power is without question."...
Bastions of the Socialists like the Nord department around Lille have swung to the right, as has President Hollande's own fiefdom of the Correze in central France."...
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