Word: socialists
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...most passionately fought French Presidential election in recent memory wasn't even close: Conservative standard-bearer Nicolas Sarkozy handily beat Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal 53.2% to 46.8% to succeed Jacques Chirac in the Elysée. The win also gives Sarkozy's ruling Union for a Popular Majority party (UMP) a considerable boost ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 10 and 17, where victory would give the right the power necessary to push through the vast modernization and liberalization program promised by Sarkozy...
...citizens reflected in the near-record 85% turnout. "Ségolène has changed the way a lot of us look at politics, and convinced us we can all make a difference," explained Royal voter Teddy Benam, 22, as 5,000 mostly young people danced in front of Socialist Party headquarters after Royal conceded defeat. "Sarkozy won tonight, but we'll be there for the rematch of legislative elections in June. If the left win those, Sarko's victory tonight will be a hollow...
...Perhaps, but even many Socialist Party officials concede that no French Presidential victory by one party has ever been followed in short order by a legislative election that hands power to its opposition. Just as troubling for the left are the internal struggles clearly already under way to decide who will lead their campaign in June, with Royal's more centrist positions under attack from the left wing of the party...
...seriously is considering continuing the disastrous seduction of centrists," warned Jean-Luc Mélanchon, a member of the Socialist Party's hard-left flank. "It's clear that to avoid the right sweeping again, the Socialist Party will have to refocus and regroup, and bond with the wider left to win as many seats in parliament as possible," agree Socialist official Henri Weber. "That will be overseen by members of the party's leadership...
This Sunday, another large turnout is expected for the run-off election as the French choose between the two remaining candidates—Nicolas Sarkozy of the right-of-center Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party and the Socialist Party’s Ségolène Royal. Although we welcome the overwhelming signs of democratic strength in France, only one vote will move the country toward far-reaching reforms that La République requires—a vote for Nicolas Sarkozy...