French Rightists Keep Assembly Edge
France’s ruling right-wing coalition and the opposition Socialist Party each won four seats in a parliamentary by-election Sunday, leaving the right’s three-seat majority in the 577-member National Assembly unaltered.
The voting in the Haute Garonnne region of southwest France was the first ballot-box test for Premier Jacques Chirac since the rightists won general elections in March. The outcome repeats the region’s March general election results, which were voided because of registration irregularities.
In races for the less important Senate, centrist and right-wing parties gained 18 seats while leftists parties lost 16 in voting that reflected the move toward the right established in the 1983 local elections.
A total of 120 of the 319 Senate seats were chosen Sunday by 49,113 elected representatives.
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