Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy faces a regional vote on Sunday that opinion polls suggest will result in a heavy loss for his centre-right UMP party in the last ballot box test before he comes up for re-election in 2012.
Unemployment in France is running at more than 10 percent, public finances are under growing strain and a series of controversies over issues ranging from lavish executive pay to immigration and security have undermined Sarkozy's popularity.
"Rarely has a regional election been so national," the leftwing daily Liberation declared in an editorial on Saturday. "The last vote before the Presidential Election in 2012. It can change the political landscape."
Sarkozy has said the election will be about local issues and he has ruled out a major reshuffle if the results are as bad as expected, but he said last week that he would be "attentive" to what voters say and some cabinet changes are possible.
According to a survey published on Friday by the TNS Sofres polling institute, the opposition Socialists had 31.5 percent support going into the first round of the election, compared with 29 percent for the UMP.
Sunday's vote will be followed by a second round on March 21, when the top two parties in each of the 26 regions will face each other in a decisive runoff.
The Socialists should pick up second round votes from the Greens and various far-left parties which outweigh the far-right National Front and a small centrist party where support may go to the UMP. Only in the eastern region of Alsace does the UMP look like winning.
The last polls close in major cities at 8.00 pm (3 pm EST) with an initial first round result due later in the evening.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, March 14, 2010, 08:57