Vote test for Socialists

Press, 6 March 1985, Page 11

Vote test for Socialists

NZPA-AP Paris Half of the French electorate will vote on Sunday in local elections that not only will serve as a referendum on the policies of the sagging Socialist Government after four years, but will test the political waters for the 1986 Parliamentary vote. And above all it will gauge the strength of the newest element in French politics — the spectacular rise of the extreme Right National Front. More than 10,000 candidates are vying for seats in the 2044 cantons spread over the 95 departments, or counties, in metropolitan France and four overseas. The councillors elected by each canton form the department’s general council. Traditionally, cantonal elections are local affairs fought on local issues. But this year they have taken on new importance because of the expanded powers given to general councils under the Government’s decentralisation programme. They also are the last nation-wide elections before France chooses a new National Assembly. Polls have shown that French voters want to use these local elections to “issue a warning” to the President, Mr Francois Mitterrand, and his Government. Despite election promises, the Left has been unable to stop the steady rise in unemployment, now about 10.3 per cent, and repair a sluggish economy that is lagging behind the rest of Western Europe.