国际英语新闻：Regional defeat rings alarm, not death bell for France's ruling right

As French powerful labor union CGT called for a day of protest over wages and pensions on Tuesday and the Socialist-led left was determined to defeat the UMP, Sarkozy has to win back some public trust as soon as possible.

President's General Secretary Claude Gueant said that Sarkozy would make some "minor technical readjustment" to the cabinet, and the Elysee Palace said that Prime Minister Fracois Fillon was summoned by the president to assess the election results on Monday morning.

If the Elysee really lives up to its promise of "listening to the voice of the French public," a major cabinet reshuffle would be inevitable, as a recent survey showed that 57 percent of French people demanded cabinet reshuffle and 37 percent even asked for a new prime minister.

STILL LONG WAY TO GO FOR THE LEFT WING

In terms of party alliance, the left wing has gained enormous strength, but it still needs time to come up with a prominent candidate to challenge Sarkozy.

The Socialist, the leading force of left wing, is regarded as a chronically divided party. The emerging Greens has showed ambition to play a greater role in regional affairs though it has joined forces with the Socialist.

During Sarkozy's remaining term of office, the left unity is facing a test of how to coordinate with each other to speak in one voice

As Stephane Rozes said, France has been governed by right-wing presidents ever since 1995. French people have somehow got used to the division of power -- right-wing ruling the central government and left-wing controlling the regional authorities.

Observers say that the regional election is not the end, but more like a beginning of the competition between the ruling right and opposition left for the 2012 presidential election.