The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Paris

President Nicolas Sarkozy's camp suffered setbacks in several major cities in round one of French local elections Sunday, dealing a new blow to the right-winger as he battles a collapse in popularity. Exit polls showed the opposition Socialists well-placed to score big gains over Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), in next Sunday's decisive second round of a vote cast as a referendum on his presidency. The Socialists retained a firm grip on the capital Paris and cemented their hold on France's third city Lyon -- clinching victory in round one -- as well as on the northern city of Lille. Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe, a rising star of the left and one of France's most popular politicians, received a resounding thumbs-up for his pro-environment urban policies, with about 41.6 percent of first round votes, against 27.9 for his right-wing rival Francoise de Panafieu. Delanoe's Green party allies won 6.7 percent of the vote. Nationwide, left-wing parties took some 47.5 percent of the vote, well ahead of the UMP and its allies on 40 percent, according to a CSA survey. Turnout was high, estimated at close to 70 percent. Socialist leader Francois Hollande said voters had sent "a warning to the president of the republic and the government on the policies conducted over the past nine months."