Sarkozy's poll win tempered by left's revival
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy's allies won a large majority in parliamentary elections on Sunday but fell short of the predicted landslide after a row over a sales tax hike appeared to cost them votes.
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Come Monday, President Nicolas Sarkozy will likely be one of Europe's most powerful leaders. With the government, parliament and top state bodies under his conservative camp's control, he should face little political resistance as he seeks to reshape France.
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Voting began in the first round of France's legislative election on Sunday with President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party expected to strengthen its hold on power.
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French conservatives were headed for a  parliamentary landslide after a first round legislative  election on Sunday, bolstering President Nicolas Sarkozy&#39;s  plans to implement wide-ranging reforms.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy won a solid parliamentary majority for political and economic reforms on Monday but voters soured the right's celebrations by not giving a forecast landslide and rejecting a top minister.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy&#39;s political opponents struggled on Tuesday to energize their campaign and prevent the French leader&#39;s rightwing party from winning a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy appears to have won a mandate for change after his party swept first-round parliamentary elections, and he is picking up speed in his plans to overhaul France's welfare state. But rivals say he should watch out.
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French conservatives looked set to sweep parliamentary elections on Sunday and hand President Nicolas Sarkozy the strong mandate he had sought for the wide-ranging reforms he says are needed to revive the economy.
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France votes in the first round of  parliamentary elections on Sunday with President Nicolas  Sarkozy&#39;s party expected to strengthen its hold on power,  clearing the way for him to push ahead with reforms.
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French voters overseas cast the first ballots Saturday in a parliamentary election predicted to hand a resounding majority to President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ambitious reform programme.
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PARIS, June 17 -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party won a majority in parliamentary runoff elections Sunday, 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...
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked set to gain a resounding mandate for his programme of reforms Monday, after round one of legislative elections delivered a large majority for his right-wing political party.
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President Nicolas Sarkozy is seeking to bolster his mandate for pervasive reforms to energize France's sluggish economy in legislative elections that opened Sunday.The vote is crucial to Sarkozy's reform program because the composition of his Cabinet and its ability to push through legislation is tied to the number of seats the mainstream right has in the 577-seat National Assembly.The balloting Sunday is the first round. In France's complex electoral calculus, only candidates who win a majority of votes Sunday land a seat immediately. In races with no majority winner, any hopeful who gets more than 12.5 percent will qualify for a decisive second round June 17. Read more
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President Nicolas Sarkozy&#39;s right-wing party won an absolute majority in the French parliament on Sunday, taking 314 out of 577 seats in the National Assembly, official results showed.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suffered a seven-point drop in his approval ratings, mainly because of worries over the economy, according to an opinion poll published in the newspaper Le Parisien on Sunday.
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French voters sent President Nicolas Sarkozy a warning over pushing too far and fast with his reform programme by denying him a widely predicted landslide in legislative elections, French newspapers said Monday.
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy was forced into a cabinet rethink on Monday after losing a senior minister in parliamentary polls that gave him an unexpectedly small majority, but his reforms remained on track.