Sarkozy camp takes firm lead in polls
Afp, Paris
French voters on islands off the coast of Canada cast the first ballots yesterday in a parliamentary election tipped to give rightwing President Nicolas Sarkozy a resounding majority for his ambitious reform programme. The roughly 700,000 citizens of French overseas territories as well as expatriates in the Americas go to the polls a day before first-round voting begins early Sunday in mainland France. The tiny French dependency of St Pierre and Miquelon -- a group of islands in the Atlantic off Canada with just 5,000 registered voters -- were the first to vote, followed by the territories of the French Caribbean. The second round of voting takes place on June 17. Just a month after Sarkozy's victory over the Socialist Segolene Royal in the presidential race, voters are returning to the polls to choose the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
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