FRENCH PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy has signalled a “pause” in government reforms next year, striking a placatory tone on the eve of regional elections that are expected to result in a heavy defeat for his party.
Despite the final opinion polls suggesting the left could make a clean sweep of all regions on mainland France, Mr Sarkozy ruled out a large-scale cabinet reshuffle in the event of a defeat for his UMP party. “The ballot is a regional ballot. Its consequences will therefore be regional,” he said.
The two-round election, which takes place tomorrow and on March 21st, will decide who controls France’s 26 regions, with authority over areas such as local transport, schools and training.
Mr Sarkozy said he would push on with sensitive pension reforms after the election, but suggested a “pause” would be required next year to give parliament time to fine-tune the initiatives adopted since he came to power in 2007.
"In the second half of 2011, the government will pause so that parliament can 'de-legislate' if it wants to," he said in the interview with yesterday's Le FigaroMagazine.
“It will be high time to start simplifying legislative and administrative measures.”
With unemployment having crept past 10 per cent – its highest level in a decade – and Mr Sarkozy suffering from the lowest approval ratings of his presidency after a series of damaging controversies, the UMP is braced for a sharp rebuke from voters this weekend.
An Ifop poll for Paris Match yesterday suggested left-wing parties would take a combined 52 per cent of the vote in tomorrow’s first round, while the ruling UMP would attract 29.5 per cent.
For the second round, after smaller parties have been eliminated, the Socialist Party can cut local deals with ecological and anti-capitalist parties. On the right, however, Mr Sarkozy has ruled out any alliance with the National Front, whose support Ifop puts at 9 per cent.
The president played down the national significance of the election – the last test of public opinion before the presidential election of 2012 – but said he would be attentive to the electorate’s message.
While ruling out a large-scale cabinet reshuffle before potentially awkward pension reforms are completed this year – the government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 – he added: “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t listen to what the French people have to say. We will see if a new political phase is appropriate after the pension reform.”
Socialist-led coalitions won 20 regions in the last elections in 2004, removing the UMP from power in 12. The UMP held on to just Corsica and Alsace, but polls show it could now lose Alsace, giving the left control over all regions on the French mainland.
Due to the convention that the head of state should remain above the political fray, as well as the perception that his poor approval ratings could damage his party, Mr Sarkozy has generally stayed out of the campaign.
Instead, the UMP’s de facto leader has been the rejuvenated prime minister, François Fillon, who has become more popular than the president.
Mr Sarkozy yesterday dismissed widespread reports of tension between them, saying: “I work very well with the prime minister.”