No blue tsunami

Sarkozy and his UMP party didn’t quite achieve the “blue tidal wave” they were hoping for. They have 314 out of 577 seats, a clear majority, but less than the 357 they held under Chirac. Sarkozy is still taking this as a mandate to implement his conservative reforms, and I still predict a lot of social unrest in France for the next five years. Whether workers, students, and banlieue residents will be able to successfully resist those reforms is another matter.

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