French left captures Senate in setback for Sarkozy

[UrbScotty]

Source: BBC

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government has lost its majority in the Senate for the first time in recent French history.

The Socialist Party and its Communist and Green allies have won enough seats to gain control of the upper house.

Their victory comes just seven months before the country's presidential election in April.

Right-wing parties have controlled the Senate since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15055729

[valerief]

1. Great. nt

[xchrom]

2. Excellent. Nt

[jannyk]

3. Yes! nt

[joeybee12]

4. Very good news...knr

[Admiral Loinpresser]

5. Vive la France!

No guillotine this time, mon ami.

[Demeter]

29. At least, not yet

[Kingofalldems]

6. Sarkozy's little pallies won't like this one.

[Weird Liberal Head]

7. Awesome news!

Not nearly 'nuff said.

[Eyerish]

8. K&R

[Overseas]

9. K&R. Glad to hear it.

[davidwparker]

10. Tres Bien

Now, vote out Sarkozy.

[quakerboy]

11. What practical effect will this have?

what does this change?

[harmonicon]

28. well....

That all depends, doesn't it? I remember a distant magical time occupied by unicorns and faerie princes.... it was called 2006. Democrats won control of the US senate and EVERYTHING was going to change. No more illegal spying, no more torture, no more wars of aggression... ahh... sweet relief. But - alas - it was all just a dream.

Seriously, who fucking knows? These groups have never been in this position before and are really only united in their opposition. My honest guess would be "not a hell of a lot", but things like last year's push to up the minimum retirement age likely wouldn't have happened.

[Betty Karlson]

30. French senate is less powerful than the American one

It can amendate bills, but the parliament still has the last word. Mr Bel, the leader of the left in the senate, has already announced that the senate won't become one big obstruction (GOP-style). But he did say that "we expect to use all authority the senate has".

That would include:
1. Different oversight over current investigations by senate committees, including an investigation of the senate itself.
2. Severe scrutinizing of any bill that Sarkozy sends forth.
3. A big list of demanding amendments before any bill is sent back to parliament.
4. No "golden standard" law - inflation/ deflation are on the table again as alternatives to more cuts.

A bit litmus test for the left's resolve would be the election of the president of the senate. Sarkozy's UMP is still the largest party in that senate (129 seats against 125 for the solcialist PS) - and the current (right-wing) president has announced he hopes to be re-elected by getting votes from some moderates and some radical leftists. Let's see if he succeeds; by the way, the senate is still waiting for the results of senate seats overseas (Guyana, St Pierre & Miquelon) and the president won't be elected until the winners of those seats have been confirmed.

-------------------------------

May I point at an interesting pattern? This election victory for the left is not just historic in itself, it is also part of an uninterrupted series of election victories.

Now, for the first time in 52 years, the left takes the senate.

Last year, the municipal elections saw Sarkozy's UMP lose a few big cities. Sarkozy seemed not concerned about it, invoking his hero Napoléon and stating that the economy would turn around in time.

Earlier this year, the left won big in the cantonal elections. (Cantons are not like American states, but cantonal governments certainly have a lot of local authority.) In those cantonals, the left won big, turning over "tough order" majorities, like in Pyrenées-Atlantique.

They also won the Jura - a canton that experts say they "can only take if they form a united front". They did, and they won. With just seven months to go before the presidential elections, it seems that the front is still united.

The two remaining candidates for the presidency are both political heavy-weights. François Hollande is the former partner of presidential candidate Ségolène Royal, former party chairman, and leader of a canton (he won his re-election by four local seats!). Martine Aubry is the woman who roused the Jura to go left, as well as the daughter of former European Commission president Jacques Delors. Hollande and Aubry are not dishing dirt on one another - their campaign is benign, and disciplined. Both make overtures to the Green Party, the party that keeps winning most seats in all the elections I mentioned.

The left is on and rolling. The significance of this victory is not that bills will be amendated, it is that the right is now branded a big loser. The "Little Napoléon" may just meet his Waterloo.

Because today feels like Leipzig.

[reggie the dog]

48. excellent recap

i am happy as hell that the right lost another election here and i will be voting socialist from the first round of our elections in the spring and either socialist or green depending on how the leglislatives are organized. hollande already has come out and said he would like a second tour coalition with the greens in which the parties split ministry head seat ect. and work out who to run in legislatives, it will be interesting to see, hollande also has proposed hiring new teachers in mass to reduce class size and hire govt workers in general to drop unemployment and wants to legalize marijuana

[Auntie Bush]

12. It's about time. I wonder if this will send a message to our Rethugs.

This can happen to you too.

[tcaudilllg]

39. Not all republicans are alike.

You may disagree, but I think we should be arm in arm with the moderate wing of the GOP against the Tea Party.

[Phaedrus76]

42. What moderates?

The GOP had run all of them out of the house now to the point that Boehner has atea party challenger.

[Auntie Bush]

58. I'm for that... but I thought they got rid of most of the moderate Rethugs.

And will continue to do so. Let any of them vote with the Dems and they can be sure to get challeneged with a Primary.

[Taverner]

13. ¡Viva Socialismo!

[cascadiance]

14. Now that's a cool birthday present for me today!

Since I was born on September 25, 1958, which the article says was the year that the Fifth Republic was founded, and has been controlled since that time by the right wing throughout my life...

I wonder if the frustration of what was happening with the whole Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair, who was earlier viewed as a challenger to Sarkozy and what has been correspondingly happening with the IMF basically mandating austerity measures to Greece, etc. too. for Sarkozy's EU bailout funding. Perhaps the French wanted to communicate their frustration by this vote!

[Divine Discontent]

16. happy birthday!

:party:

[joshcryer]

15. Can DSK run for President or is it too late?

[Betty Karlson]

31. It's not too late.

But considering that the two front-runners (Hollande and Aubry) are doing an excellent job, and that 52 % of the left wants DSK to stay out of the race, he won't enter the race.

But don't be surprised to see DSK appointed Minister of Finance in the event of Hollande winning the presidency. (Not sure if Aubry would do the same.)

[Mass]

50. It is likely too late to run as a socialist as the primary is in October.

This said, he would not stand a chance at this point.

[KeyserSoze87]

17. Donnez un coup de pied et recommandez!

[Chorophyll]

18. Always happy to see the phrase "left captures Senate."

Any country will do.

[marmar]

19. Genial!

nt

[Odin2005]

20. Vive Le France!!! Vive le Socialisme!

[pampango]

21. French left captures Senate in setback for Sarkozy

Source: BBC

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government has lost its majority in the Senate for the first time in recent French history.

The Socialist Party and its Communist and Green allies have won enough seats to gain control of the upper house. Right-wing parties have controlled the Senate since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.

"The 25th of September, 2011, will go down in history," Jean-Pierre Bel, head of the Socialist group in the Senate, said on French television. "The results of this Senate election represent a real comeuppance for the right."

France's conservative Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said the right had suffered from its divisions and that the left had made a "strong breakthrough".

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15055729

---

Hopefully, the beginning of the end for Sarkozy and the right in France.

[Taverner]

22. ¡Viva Socialismo!

[fascisthunter]

23. Good! (nt)

[Merlot]

24. See what happens when you raise the retirement age, Mr. Sarcozy?

[reggie the dog]

51. his party has lost their majorities in every election since

lost a majority of regions to the green left force, lost majority of cantons to green left, lost majority of mayor officies to green left, and now lost the senate to the green left

[unionworks]

25. VIVA LA FRANCE!

VIVA LA REVOLUTIONE!

[pacalo]

26. The "New World Order" doesn't seem to be working out.

The one that Poppy Bush mentioned (maybe once?) to the nation when we had the good fortune to have him lead this nation (off a cliff -- Poppy stepped back until the time that he'd arrange that his ne'er-do-well son get the throne & the honor of doing the most harm to this nation since Pearl Harbor, redeeming his son's image with the PTB):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc7i0wCFf8g

[Ash_F]

27. Good. I guess the race-baiting didn't work for Sarkozy

nt

[willhe]

32. I Just Wonder..

What would happen if our left captured the senate

[No Elephants]

34. I don't think Sanders can legally run in 30 or more states.

[Enthusiast]

33. Kicked and recommended.

Like here the people grow weary of the right wing.

[No Elephants]

35. Is the French left a lot different from the French right?--Not intended to be a sarcastic question.

I simply don't know.

[Betty Karlson]

36. It is.

Most of the seats gained in these senatorial elections were not victories for the Socialists (PS) but for (Europhile) Greens, independent leftists, and assorted radicals. In addition, the Communists (still there in France) stood their ground.

The French right is a collection of Bourgeoisie (upper and lower), neo-conservatives (Sarkozy and co), Europhobes, and liberals (because in Western Europe, liberal means right of centre*).

* Actually, in America it means right of centre too. It's just that no-one to the left of the liberals gets represented!

[No Elephants]

40. Thank you for the info. And Bingo on your observation about the US.

Center right is now "liberal," if you listen to some, and "Socialist" if you listen to others.

It's ridiculous anymore.

I always considered myself only slightly left of center, until about a year into posting at DU. Can see many errors by my country, but love it, warts and all; pro working people; fiscally conservative, fiercely pro equal human rights for all humans, but also pray a lot; not pro-communist, but pro-community, etc.

Apparently, that makes me a wild-eyed radical among a healthy number of DU's Democrats.

I am so glad to know about the French left of the left though, even the radicals!

Now, THAT really does give me hope.

[AverageJoe90]

46. I see things the same way. n/t =)

[reggie the dog]

55. what is good is seeing that socialists and greens are starting

to not run candidates against each other in some regions

[reggie the dog]

54. yes much different

the french right is for making people pay more to access state run health insurance, the left wants to roll back the fees and pay for the system with income taxes

the french right is anti pot legalization the french left supports legalization

the french right supports raising taxes slightly on the rich and on everyone else the french left wants to raise taxes on the rich and lower them for everyone else

the french right supports civil unions for gays, the french left supports marriage equality

the french right gives lip service to the greens the french left, in regions they control, work with the greens

the french right and left both support the idea that the death penalty is unconstitutional, that abortion is legal, and that the state has a responsiblity to provide a social saftey net but the right wants the system to be so so in quality whereas the left wants it to be of good quality.

the right and the left both accept that access to health care is a right, for example,

the right wants to increase fees at universities the left supports making them free

the right wants to keep our nuclear electricity the left wants to phase it out

the right wants the retirement age to increase the left wants it to stay the same or even go down

there is a distinct anti immigrant anti muslim racism on the right that the left fights against

[Mosaic]

37. The first domino of many

I hope. I hope it reaches the US.

[No Elephants]

41. I hope you are correct about "many" and I hope it reaches the US as well.

Whodda thunk that the nation whose revolution inspired the French Revolution would end up looking longingly, yet passively, at France?

[tcaudilllg]

38. The economy, Gadhafi...

or both?

[LeftishBrit]

43. Good news!

[newspeak]

44. so the right wing has controlled the senate since 1958?

does that mean the france's health care, child care policies was created under their right wing or a combination of all? If it was, can't imagine our current right wing doing anything like helping the people.

[Mass]

49. No, they were created mostly before that,

But the Senate has a lot less power in France than it has in the State, so it did not block the socialist government in the 80s, and in the same way, this new senate will not block the RW fantasies of Sarkozy. However, it seems that being reelected may make him more reasonable.

[reggie the dog]

56. the social welfare system in france was largely put in

by the right wing after wwII, Charles de Gaulle was a big time supporter of the social welfare state as was his right wing counterpart churchill in the UK, they knew that people had to get a better share of the pie or that europe would become totally communist. the right and left together with a split executive and house of reps in 2 different parties, giving socialist prime minister jospin and right wing president chirac closed a loophole in health care making health insurance a right for all people not just a priviledge for those who worked.

the right wing, in control of the legislature and the executive, voted to make the death penalty illegal while chirac was in his second term and the prime minister was right wing

the right wing was also the party who voted in civil unions for gays

[Lars77]

59. The US political spectrum is almost incomparable to Europe.

French Conservatives are not conservative in America by any standard.

[MH1]

45. Thanks - didn't see this at all in my Google News headlines.

Google's targeting slipping? or something more sinister?

[reggie the dog]

47. For the first time in 53 years we have the senate !

now if we get the executive and the other half of the legislative branch next spring we will have all we need to have true left wing reform

[Mass]

52. Yep. Now, let's hope the primary gets us somebody who can win the election

for the socialists. My guess is that it should be Hollande (my folk's deputé and maire, BTW). Let's hope he does better than Royal did in 2007.

[katty]

53. great-ms. bruni may have to support Nico soon

[jwirr]

57. Take that you bunch of greedy idiots. Good.

[iandhr]

60. French left

Though I am considered liberal in this country... my positions would not be considered left in France.

[femrap]

61. Let's all move to the Left, please. nt

[Zorra]

62. Chin Chin!

:toast: