By KUNA
Paris : French and eligible European Union resident voters began heading to the polls early Sunday for the second round of local elections here designed to complete the process of choosing local councillors for cities, towns and villages throughout the country.
In a first round of voting a week ago, Frances Socialist opposition and its left-wing and centrist allies made significant ground on the ruling Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP) of President Nicolas Sarkozy, but a number of key votes remained undecided.
This Sunday, the make-up of the remaining 32 percent of French town councils will be known when polls close in major cities later tonight. Those polls open country-wide at 8 am and close at 6 pm, 7 pm or 8 pm depending on the size of the locality.
Some 125 towns and cities of more than 30,000 inhabitants are still in dispute and prizes such as Marseille, Toulouse and Strasbourg are the most coveted.
Paris is expected to remain under the control of Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, a leading Socialist who has managed once again to form a rainbow coalition of “Greens” and other leftists to fight off a challenge from the UMP candidate, Francoise de Panafieu.
Still vital for Sundays last battles is the volatile voter turnout, which dropped to historically low levels of 66.5 percent a week ago.
All of the 67,000 candidates in Sundays ballot have been calling for higher turnout by their supporters, but many voters may feel that the major battles have already been fought and won and may shun the ballot box.
More wins for the Socialist-inspired opposition would be damaging for President Sarkozy, who has already been affected by last weeks results and is making adjustments within his higher command and within the ranks of the UMP, although a major government reshuffle is being ruled out at this juncture.
Among close aides to Sarkozy who have fallen in the electoral battle is Spokesman David Martinon, who was forced to withdraw from the town council race in Neuilly, a Sarkozy stronghold outside Paris, because of his lack of popularity. Sarkozy was a long-time Mayor of Neuilly, himself, and had bequeathed the position to Martinon as an easy hand-over but the Elysee Palace official managed to irritate both local residents and party officials before he was told to withdraw. He has subsequently been relieved of his post as Spokesman and sent as Consul to New York, an appointment seen as a demotion given his proximity to the President and the centre of power in Paris.
Sources said on Saturday that other changes and transfers are expected in Sarkozys office and that the whole communications strategy of the Elysee is being revamped.