Nicolas Sarkozy, France's usually omnipresent chief of state, was lying low until after municipal elections that start Sunday - trying to prevent his low poll ratings from dragging down his allies. ( AP )
President Sarkozy's conservative party fears his dramatic slide in popularity will damage its chances in the two rounds of balloting that end March 16.
Though centered on parks, schools, transportation and other local issues, many analysts say the elections for mayor, deputy mayor or municipal councilor are a referendum on Sarkozy's performance and image - out of sync with what the French expect of a head of state.
The 53-year-old Sarkozy was elected last year with a pledge to loosen strict labor laws and ease high taxes. But the French economy remains sluggish and only minor changes have been made. His quick marriage to model Carla Bruni after his divorce also soured voters, as did his angry outburst toward a man who refused to shake his hand.
Polls show the president's popularity as low as 37 percent.
The rival left, led by the Socialist party, is looking to reverse conservative gains in the last municipal elections in 2001 in the nearly 36,700 cities, towns and villages and cripple Sarkozy politically.
Many candidates of Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement, or UMP, have removed the party logo from their posters.
Former small business minister Renaud Dutreil, a UMP member who risks defeat by his Socialist adversary in Reims, capital of Champagne country, blames his troubles on "the bad winds blowing from Paris."
Prime Minister Francois Fillon - whose popularity ratings have risen - has been making trips to bolster candidates in key cities, in place of Sarkozy.
If the right suffers a major loss, Sarkozy "would be like a magician who has lost his magic," said political analyst Jean-Luc Parodi. Even some lawmakers from his own party might be less likely to fall in line with his policies.
Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande has called on voters to use the ballot box "to send a note to Nicolas Sarkozy and call him to order." Even though Sarkozy is not on the ballot, a poll by the Ifop agency published Friday showed 21 percent of voters want to use their ballots to punish Sarkozy, while 10 percent want to support him.
Sarkozy himself attached broad significance to the vote two months ago, saying that elections without a political message were "absurd." But with his popularity now low, he's sought to separate himself from it. "I have no intention of pacing my five-year mandate to local, regional or European elections ahead," he said in an interview in Thursday's daily Le Figaro.
One personal loss for Sarkozy has already been registered, in Neuilly, the wealthy Paris suburb where he served as mayor for 19 years. A party rebellion pushed his hand-picked candidate, presidential spokesman David Martinon, off the ballot.
There is little chance that Paris, the crown jewel of the elections, can be wrenched from popular Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who took the rightist bastion in 2001. Lyon, the other big leftist win in the previous vote, also appears solidly in Socialist hands.
The right hopes to retain other big cities, including like Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Toulouse. Sarkozy's UMP now backs a party outsider for Marseille and faces a keen embarrassment if he loses.
Two-thirds of Sarkozy's government, 22 ministers, are on the ballot. A loss could damage their political standing but Sarkozy told Le Figaro there would be no big government shuffle after the vote.