"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Le Monde (#3)

In what was a very close race in the second round of voting, Nicolas Sarkozy has snatched the Presidency away from Hollande. The UMP headquarters roared in delight for their President while all is quiet in the Hollande HQ. Monseiur Sarkozy released this statement after his victory was announced.

The French people voted for change. The French people voted for a shift in the status quo. The French people voted to take grasp once more of their future. I will work restlessly to ensure that the dreams of the French people will come to fruition

The final results were:

Turnout - 49.9%
Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP) - 52.3%
François Hollande (Socialist Party) - 47.7%

Despite the UMP’s candidate winning the Presidential election, their performance in the National Assembly elections did not go so well. The leadership of the UMP decided to make a coalition with the much smaller but extremely popular French Freemason Party who have been campaigning intensely in the last few months. Their alliance proved to be a major blunder for the UMP as they have been reduced to the junior partner in the coalition (albeit by a relatively small margin). To make matters worse for the UMP, their left-wing rivals, the Socialist Party, have managed to snatch the majority of seats in the parliamentary left giving them more seats than the UMP alone.

The results are as follows:

Government
French Freemason Party - 153
UMP - 144
Independents - 3

Other Parties
Socialist Party - 260
Other non-major parties - 17

Is France in a political crisis? What will become of the new government?