THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: As the French go to the polls for their regional elections, many wonder whether France's love affair with Nicolas Sarkozy is well and truly over.
It was just what the beleaguered party faithful wanted: a glitzy election rally with an upbeat message that their leader's huge reform programme was on track, with his ministers handling the economic crisis better than neighbours like Britain.
But days before France goes to the polls in regional elections, the man whose record and reputation are on the line was nowhere to be seen at his own party's final polling push – and his name was not directly mentioned.
Three years after President Nicholas Sarkozy swept triumphantly into the Elysee Palace to usher in what he promised was a new era of change for France, few from his camp will admit it – but he has become an electoral liability.
As his Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) fought against the prospect of losing control of the last of mainland France's 22 regions in the second round vote, the man standing amid the blue balloons and wild adulation in the eastern Alsace region was the Prime Minister François Fillon. It was his final stop in a race around France to muster the votes needed for an eleventh-hour victory.
Mr Sarkozy stayed away, hoping that by doing so these elections would be considered local affairs – a vote for who controls transport, schools and development budgets.
But however he spins it, the midterm regional elections are seen as a key test on how much the French have fallen out of love with their president, and the response is likely to be a humiliating slap in the face. >>> Henry Samuel in Strasbourg | Sunday, March 21, 2010
