|
Socialists take French parliament with sweeping win
 France's Socialists won control of parliament in a run-off vote Sunday, handing President Francois Hollande the convincing majority needed to push through his tax-and-spend agenda, estimates said.The Socialists' bloc obtained between 308 and 320 seats -- an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly -- and so will not need to rely on the Greens or the far left, polling institutes CSA, Ispsos and Sofres said. Hollande, who defeated right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy in a May presidential election, had urged voters to give him the MPs he needs to steer France through the eurozone crisis, rising unemployment and a faltering economy. Sarkozy's UMP and the New Centre won between 221 and 231 seats, the Socialist-allied Greens 20 seats and the far-left Left Front 10, the polling institutes said, with the centrist MoDem winning two seats. Posted by: Fred 2012-06-18 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=346750 |