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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Slovenes vote in the first parliamentary poll since joining the EU, with the ruling coalition facing a stiff challenge.
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French President Jacques Chirac's  popularity has sunk to its lowest level in seven years because  of fears over the economy and Turkey's bid to join the European  Union, an opinion poll showed Sunday.
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SUPPORTERS of President Chirac will try to change the French Constitution this week to protect him from prosecution for political corruption as soon as he leaves office.
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French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has taken one step closer to a bid for the presidency, taking the helm of President Jacques Chirac&#39;s party.
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France will hold a referendum on the European Constitution in the spring, President Jacques Chirac announced today, calling on government ministers to work for a yes vote.
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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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Polls opened Sunday in the second round of France&#39;s parliamentary elections, with some 35 million registered voters choosing National Assembly deputies in the 467 constituencies where there was no winner in the first round a week ago.
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Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin won a seat in French Senate elections today, a post that could be useful if persistent rumours that his days as government chief are numbered prove true.
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Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin won a seat in French Senate elections Sunday, a post that could be a useful fallback if persistent murmurs prove true that his days as government chief are numbered.
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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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Campaigning drew to a close Saturday for the second round of France&#39;s parliamentary election, which is expected to deliver an overwhelming majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ambitious programme of reform.
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France votes in the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday with President Nicolas Sarkozy's party expected to strengthen its hold on power, clearing the way for him to push ahead with reforms.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right allies won a solid majority in Sunday's parliamentary election, but failed to secure a widely-expected landslide, television poll forecasts showed.
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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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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
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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.