French govt humiliated in poll for disgraced minister's seat

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkMqEis6fwStFE1nt66hLs7k57bsV-_x4SntKjPdiZBDGgoN__ZQhucp73Kl0PjStWYJvMV8XqFSM_0ajkl9D5JQBao5D3nvP68eg4M4c_dkuzzSCkXW9sHUyV0ixPZbXPPS1CB5V-vU/s1600/51bebac487079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkMqEis6fwStFE1nt66hLs7k57bsV-_x4SntKjPdiZBDGgoN__ZQhucp73Kl0PjStWYJvMV8XqFSM_0ajkl9D5JQBao5D3nvP68eg4M4c_dkuzzSCkXW9sHUyV0ixPZbXPPS1CB5V-vU/s1600/51bebac487079.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>PARIS: France's socialist government suffered the indignity of a first-round exit in a parliamentary by-election to replace a disgraced minister forced out over a tax-dodging scandal.</b><br /><br />Former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who is facing charges of tax fraud, stepped down from his parliamentary seat in April.<br /><br />In Sunday's by-election for his seat in Lot-et-Garonne, southwest France, the socialist candidate was pushed into third place – and thus eliminated.<br /><br />The vote was marked by a turn-out significantly lower than in the 2012 general election: only 46 percent of the 75,000 voters eligible to have their say bothered to do so.<br /><br />President Francois Hollande acknowledged that the result was fall-out from the scandal around Cahuzac, whose ministerial portfolio had included the fight against tax evasion.<br /><br />For UMP president Jean-Francois Cope, the result was another “scathing repudiation of Francois Hollande and his policies”.<br /><br />Socialist party leader Harlem Desir called on voters to ensure the FN candidate did not win the second-round run-off vote.<br /><br />Sunday's result was another slap in the face for the ruling Socialists after defeats last weekend in two other by-elections.<br /><br />The party now has 292 deputies in the National Assembly: just three seats more than the 289 seats that ensure an absolute majority.<br /><br />Through to the second round are the UMP's Jean-Louis Costes, who came first with 28.7 per cent of the vote; and the FN candidate, 23-year-old Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, who polled 26 per cent.<br /><br />Socialist candidate Bernard Barral came third with 23.7 per cent.</div>

French govt humiliated in poll for disgraced minister's seat

PARIS: France's socialist government suffered the indignity of a first-round exit in a parliamentary by-election to replace a disgraced ...

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