Defeated Sarkozy by Barbora Misakova

French people prepared for their president Nicolas Sarkozy very unpleasant surprise when his party was defeated in regional elections over the weekend. For the Sarkozy right-wing UMP party it was the worst electoral defeat in more than five decades. From 26 France’s regions leftist parties swept to power in 23 of them. And president now controls only one of France’s 22 mainland regions. Before the poll president Sarkozy was insisting that regional elections have no impact on national politics, but now he has to reconsider his point of view. As it is usual, the growing discontent is always addressed to government policies and personal style of management. That! 217;s why is Nicolas Sarkozy preparing for his first postelection cabinet meeting and is already modifying his agenda. President was overseeing a re-jig of his cabinet. Former labor minister Xavier Darcos, who was to lead negotiations on pension reform, was fired. The new Budget Minister and new head of the Labor ministry is Eric Woerth. He will also continue with pension talks. While Sarkozy tries to save as much as possible, Union leaders consider reshuffle to be useless, as it would do nothing to revive the economy. Some critics say Sarkozy is simply not listening to the public’s concerns. The mood had changed in France as the press of economic downturn and government’s steps are pushing them down. That led to the nationwide strikes of French workers that hit schools, hospitals, postal services and public transportation across the country. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets asking for attention. As Francois Chereque, head of the CFDT union sa! id: “There are real worries about the future of the coun! try.R 21;

related story (sgx16842): http://www.france24.com/en/20100324-france-sarkozy-speech-re...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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