Sarkozy Promises Reform After Election
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PARIS — French voters dealt a stinging warning to President Sarkozy by throwing his party out of office in a string of towns and cities, a ballot box setback that prompted immediate promises of reinvigorated reforms from his government.
Mr. Sarkozy will “take into account the message expressed by the French,” a government spokesman, Laurent Wauquiez, said yesterday, adding that there would be “adjustments” in the Cabinet soon but no major shake-up.
Reading into the election outcome, he said on France-Inter radio that voters seemed to want results from promised reforms “faster in their daily lives.”
While of only limited national import, the reverses in municipal elections Sunday for mayors and city councilors were a sobering reminder of how the 53-year-old Mr. Sarkozy has shrunk in the estimation of some voters since he was elected last May on a program of in-depth economic and social change for France.
