French local elections got under way yesterday, a test for conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose plummeting popularity has given an advantage to the left.
People across France were voting in a first round to elect mayors, deputy mayors and municipal councilors. The final round is on Sunday.
Ten months after Sarkozy's election, the economy remains sluggish and he has backed off from many of the sweeping reforms that he promised before his election.
The left, led by the Socialists, hopes voters will punish Sarkozy, and it also wants to turn the tide after a wave of victories by conservatives in the last municipal elections, in 2001, and a defeat in the May presidential election.
Many candidates of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) have removed the party logo from their posters, seeking distance from the unpopular president.
Sarkozy has been lying low, with Prime Minister Francois Fillon making visits instead to shore up support for candidates in the provinces.
Voting takes place in nearly 36,700 cities, towns and villages across France.
In Paris, Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who has tried to cut car traffic and pollution, is expected to keep his job, defeating the candidate from Sarkozy's party, Francoise de Panafieu.
The local elections have less to do with party affiliation than other elections, and most people plan to vote based on local issues -- such as parks, public transport and day care centers. Yet the race is also a gauge of how the French rate Sarkozy's performance in office.
A poll by the Ifop agency published on Friday shows 21 percent of voters want to use their ballots to punish Sarkozy, while 10 percent want to support him.
Sarkozy wooed voters last year with a campaign pledging to break with the rigid labor laws and high taxes of the past, to make France more globally competitive and boost workers' purchasing power.
But 10 months later, growth is slower than predicted and buying power is still a main concern. Sarkozy, perhaps fearing massive protests, has so far stayed away from major overhauls and instead staged mini-reforms.
Sarkozy's popularity ratings, which peaked at around 65 percent in July, are now hovering around 37 percent to 40 percent.
Many analysts say the French are unhappy with his presidential style.
His divorce, his ostentatious courtship of model Carla Bruni and his quick remarriage soured voters, as did his use of an expletive in an angry outburst against a man who refused to shake his hand.
The elections are also important for many members of Sarkozy's government.
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