Sarkozy suffers 'punishment vote' in French local polls: Socialists

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party suffered losses in French local elections Sunday, poll projections showed, in what the opposition Socialists called a "punishment vote" for the reforming president.

The vote, the first major test of Sarkozy's popularity since he defeated the Socialist Segelone Royal last May, was seen as a referendum on the achievements of a president whose opinion poll ratings have plummeted.

The Socialists won cities across the country including Strasbourg, Toulouse and the right-wing bastions of Amiens, Caen and Reims after the final round of the vote, projections by Ipsos-Dell and TNS Sofres said.

The left was already guaranteed Paris and the third biggest city Lyon after last weekend's first round.

But projections...