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French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to shake things up if elected president, but his antics have proven a bit too much for French voters as the country's economic troubles worsen. Sarkozy and his governing UMP party suffered a trouncing in regional elections as the opposing Socialist Party gained support.
On euronews, Socialist party leader Martine Aubry discusses the significance of these poll results.
"Today they expressed their refusal of a divided France, of a fearful, waning one, and they expressed instead their will for a stronger and a fairer France.”
But the French Prime Minister is quick to point out that it's anybody's game.
"Anything is still possible, voters are not the property of any one party."
Sarkozy faces declining approval ratings as France struggles with a 10 percent unemployment rate. A writer for myps.org suggests that no one is to blame but the president.
"Sarkozy has been a controversial person since he became president. As a matter of fact, most people are opposed to him... A president is definitely not supposed to behave like this. As a result, only 36 percent [of] people in France [are] in favor of him."
A political science professor on CNBC says the record low turn out gives home for Sarkozy in the second round of voting next week.
"Some of the results we see the first round may not be indicative of what we might see next Sunday. The socialists are declaring a victory... The UMP, the ruling party has been putting a spin on this saying no, the real results are the abstention.
And while some deem the elections a scolding to Sarkozy, others believe they aren't significant just yet. euronews talked to French citizens who held both views.
"With so many abstentions, we have to ask why we still bother with elections... I think the Socialist Party won back some of their core voters...I also think even if just half of France voted, it’s still a snub to the UMP and the government. It’s a good way of getting some balance.”
Writer: Marlena Kopacz
Producer: Newsy Staff
