Chirac party in tough Senate poll
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French President Chirac's ruling party risks losing its outright majority in an indirect vote to the Senate.
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Polls show a tight three-way contest in France's presidential race, with a centrist former education minister just a few points behind the two established candidates. But that's only half the story. Six weeks before balloting begins, at least 40 percent of those asked said they still don't know whom they want as president, leaving the race wide open.
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French railway and energy workers kept up  the pressure on President Jacques Chirac's government on  Wednesday with strikes over working conditions that severely  reduced train traffic and curbed electricity output.
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French President Jacques Chirac's ruling UMP party could lose its outright majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, in partial elections being held.
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The opposition party in France, the Socialist Party, held a vote amongst its delegates on the EuropeanUnion (EU) Constitution, which resulted in a 55 percent &quot;yes&quot; vote.
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A profile of Nicolas Sarkozy - leader of French President Jacques Chirac's party and presidential hopeful.
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France goes to the polls for the second  time in a just over a month on Sunday when it votes in  parliamentary elections that are expected to seal President  Nicolas Sarkozy&#39;s grip on power.
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Voting began in the first round of  France&#39;s legislative election on Sunday with President Nicolas  Sarkozy&#39;s conservative UMP party expected to strengthen its  hold on power.
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Los Angeles Times - WASHINGTON &#8212; Leading the majority party in the Senate, a job that has been likened to herding cats, is tough enough in ordinary times. For Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), last week's Republican election triumphs paradoxically made the job tougher yet.
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France voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election that is expected to give an overwhelming majority to conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy for his program of tax and labor reform.
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French President Jacques Chirac's ruling UMP party could lose its outright majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, in partial elections being held Sunday.
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The poll promises to be the main event in the 2005 political calendar in France and pollsters say Jacques Chirac, the president, has little chance of winning it without socialist support.
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The election of Nicolas Sarkozy as UMP leader has weakened Jacques Chirac's political power base, say the BBC's Caroline Wyatt.
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PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party won a majority in parliamentary runoff elections yesterday , but Socialists -- contrary to all poll predictions -- gained more seats than they had held in the previous assembly, foreshadowing tough battles ahead for the new government's proposals.
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French President Jacques Chirac: on his way out figures among the top &#x2019;euro-saures&#x2019; who, in accordance with the laws of evolution, must give way to a new kind of leader.Comment
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French President Jacques Chirac&#39;s popularity has sunk to its lowest level in seven years because of fears over the economy and Turkey&#39;s bid to join the European Union, an opinion poll showed Sunday.
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PARIS   Polls show a tight three-way contest in France's presidential race, with a centrist former education minister just a few points behind the two established candidates.Comment