Left-leaning parties form alliance to keep lead in second round

Automatic transcript

with the first round of voting over the horse trading has begun -- France's Socialist party came out on top -- with the highest percentage of votes fish in light -- it's likely partner heading into round two missed a green party Europe ecology -- they came in third overall but nearly thirteen percent of the vote loser -- do we we continue discussions with our other partners on that it will through to reach an agreement to drink June our alliance Jim Malone broke -- Yup -- the Socialist party has a lighted stage -- in the last regional elections in two thousand and four it took control in twenty of France's twenty two mainland regions -- this year it wants to sweep the mall -- and for that it needs to join forces with other leftist parties especially if you are apology -- after a strong showing in the European elections last year -- the green party has emerged as a third force in French politics -- now both sides are angling for dominance in do you may wanna be on top of the list it will be number two on all the lists utility presence committee's vice president if the law the proposal the eBay Socialist saying any agreement must be proportional to the shares of the vote -- says the Queen's considered themselves to be an up and coming political forests and demand a larger representation -- this is causing problems in Brittany where it looks like there may be no agreement at all -- local paper praising thrust her three we had in two thousand and eight Widnes and ten percent of the first things that won't person the course bosses and Houston were proposing tons each -- parties have until six PM Tuesday to seal their alliances

Ahead of a March 21 run-off vote, France’s Socialists allied with the Greens and other left leaning parties in a deal struck on Tuesday following the Socialists’ first-place showing in round one of regional elections.

By Catherine VIETTE (video)
FRANCE 24 (text)

France’s Socialist Party linked up with the Greens and other left-wing parties after a frantic round of backroom horse-trading on Tuesday that followed the Socialists’ first-place showing in round one of France’s regional elections over the weekend. The alliance puts the left-leaning parties in a more advantageous position ahead of the March 21 second round.

The Socialists reached an agreement with the Greens and the Left Front (a grouping of other left-wing parties) in all but two of France’s 26 regions. The Greens declined to join the triumvirate in the northern region of Brittany while the Left Front abstained in the central region of Limousin.

The deal increases the chances of the three left-wing allies to take on the right-wing parties in the second round. For the Greens and the Left Front, the agreement secures them representation on the Socialists’ list of candidates proportionate to the votes they won in the first round.

The breakthrough pact followed a series of conflicting reports on Monday evening, with Claude Bartolone, a Socialist Party member in charge of forming political alliances, prematurely announcing that the party had reached a nationwide agreement with the Greens.

Minutes later, his report was denied by a senior member of the Green party. In an interview with the AFP news service, Jean-Vincent Placé said the reports were “very premature” and maintained that the announcement by the Socialists “left us perplexed”.

The opposition Socialist Party triumphed over the ruling UMP party in Sunday’s first round, winning 29.48 percent of the vote against the UMP’s 26.18 percent. The European Greens garnered 12.47 percent, ahead of the right-wing National Front’s 11.74 percent.

A coalition of the far left, the Left Front, won up to 5.7 percent of votes, bettering the centrist MoDem party, historically France’s third most successful party, which struggled to reach 4.24 percent on Sunday.

A second-round ballot will be staged March 21, with only the leading parties going forward to the conclusive vote, which will decide who runs France’s 26 regions.

Since no single party won an outright majority in any region in the first round, the runoff is crucial for France’s leading political parties.

Under French law, any party that wins more than 10 percent of the vote in the first round can team up with any party that won more than 5 percent and present a joint list of candidates for the second round.

Sunday’s results were widely viewed as a referendum of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 34 months in power. However, voter antipathy resulted in a record low turnout for a regional election, with a 53.65 percent abstention rate.