Socialists Face Wipe-out In French election

Reeling from Segolene Royal's defeat in the presidential race, France's Socialist Party (PS) faces the prospect of a humiliating wipe-out in this weekend's legislative elections which look set to deliver a huge majority for President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Can you smell the Citroen and Peugot bonfires, yet?

A month after Sarkozy's victory, France returns to the polls Sunday for the multi-candidate round of a two-stage election to choose the 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament. The second round takes place on June 17.

Already in a minority in the Assembly, the PS appears bound for another five years in opposition -- with the latest opinion poll showing that it can expect no more than 29 percent of the first round vote compared to 41.5 percent for Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

Anyone seen Karl Rove?

The only question is likely to be the size of the party's defeat. In the worst case scenario it will lose many of its existing 149 members and sink to depths last plumbed in 1993, when in a dramatic electoral collapse it returned just 67 law-makers.

As French historian and intellectual Max Gallo said, "Sarkozy's victory [was] that of reality over utopia."Even with their members leaving the fold, the Left still doesn't get it.