French President Nicolas Sarkozy reacted to the heavy defeat suffered by his ruling UMP party in Sunday's regional elections by sacking his labour minister, Xavier Darcos, dpa quoted the president's office as announcing today. Darcos will be replaced by Budget Director Eric Woerth, who now faces the daunting task of carrying out the reform of France's pension system, which Sarkozy regards as the cornerstone of his mandate. Darcos became the likely scapegoat when the list of candidates he headed in the region of Aquitaine received only 28 per cent of the vote on Sunday. Sarkozy apparently did not wish to have his controversial reform being led by an unpopular minister. Woerth will be replaced by Francois Baroin, who took over for Sarkozy as interior minister in 2007, during the presidency of Jacques Chirac. Sarkozy was forced to react after slates headed by the opposition Socialists and their left-wing allies received 53.8 per cent of the vote Sunday, compared to 35.4 per cent for the UMP. That represents the best electoral showing by the Socialists since 1981. In addition, the Socialists won 21 of France's 22 metropolitan regions, with only a UMP victory in Alsace preventing a left-wing "Grand Slam." The UMP won two of four overseas regions, but results there were clouded by local politicking and have little relevance for national affairs. The far-right National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen also did well, averaging 18 per cent in the regions in which it had candidates standing. A poll released Monday confirmed that Sarkozy's standing as potential presidential candidate in 2012 has taken a beating. According to the poll, which was carried out by the Ipsos institute for the weekly Le Point, 58 per cent of French voters do not want Sarkozy to be a candidate for reelection. Only one of three respondents said they wanted to see Sarkozy stand for the presidency in 2012.
