PARIS, March 12, 2010 (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing party is headed for a drubbing in regional elections on Sunday, the last major test at the ballot box ahead of the 2012 vote for the presidency.
    French voters struggling with the aftershocks of the global slowdown are expected to severely punish the governing UMP party at the polls during the two-round vote on Sunday and March 21.
    Once master of the French political universe, Sarkozy is struggling with his lowest approval ratings since his 2007 election and commentators concur he no longer looks unbeatable in 2012.
    The regional vote is the first elections held in France since a year-long recession sent unemployment soaring to its highest level in a decade, with nearly three million people now without jobs.
    "The balance of power is extremely favourable for the left," said Frederic Dabi, a director at the IFOP polling agency, who is predicting a major debacle for the UMP in the elections.
    The Socialists currently control 20 of France's 22 regions on the mainland plus Corsica, along with the four councils in overseas territories.
    Polls suggest the Socialists could even score what leader Martine Aubry has called "a grand slam" - taking all 26 regions.
    "It's clear that it's a regional election, but on March 21, we will already be taking that turn toward the presidential campaign," said Dabi.
    Sarkozy's unpopularity has meant that he has stayed away from the campaign trail, leaving his lacklustre Prime Minister Francois Fillon to show up at rallies to woo voters.
    Pollsters are predicting a record low turn-out, reflecting the voters' severe loss of faith in French politicians' ability to address the lingering pain from the 2008-2009 crisis.
    In the lead-up to the vote, Sarkozy has sought to downplay the result and said there will be no major government reshuffle even if the 21 members of his cabinet who are on the ballot are defeated.
    "Let's be clear. The vote on March 14 and 21 is a regional one. Its ramifications are therefore regional," Sarkozy told Le Figaro magazine on Friday.
    But the president for the first time suggested the reform drive that has been at the heart of his mandate could be halted in 2011, one year before the vote for the Elysee.
    "In the second half of 2011, the government will make a pause to allow parliament, if it wants, to de-legislate. It is high time that we simplify legislative and administrative measures," Sarkozy said.
    The 55-year-old leader was elected on a mandate to rev up France's sluggish economy and bring unemployment down to 5 percent, but the worst recession since World War II has forced him to change tack.
    Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been destroyed in France and Sarkozy has poured billions of euros in state funds to try to propel the economy into a full-blown recovery.
    Oddly enough, a Socialist victory could play in the hands of a man who has remained far from the French political scene.
    IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former Socialist finance minister, is emerging as the left's best hopes to beat Sarkozy in 2012, according to recent opinion polls.
    Strauss-Kahn last month said he was not ruling out leaving his job at the International Monetary Fund in Washington to challenge Sarkozy in 2012.
    Some 44 million voters will be choosing 1,880 councilors from party lists to govern regions vested with powers to run transports, provide secondary education and oversee local economic development.
    Polls show the UMP could pull out ahead in the first round with about 27-29 percent of the vote but the Socialists will be able to tap into voters who backed parties eliminated in the second round to win victory.
    The far-right National Front led by Jean Marie Le Pen, who may be running in is his last election, is expected to win nearly 10 percent of the vote, according to a CSA poll published Friday.
    A small group of far-right candidates are running on an "anti-minaret" list in two regions of eastern France -- Franche-Comte and Alsace -- as part of a campaign to oppose the construction of mosques and follow in Switzerland's footsteps.