Paris: French voters dealt a stinging warning to President Nicolas Sarkozy by throwing his party out of office in a string of towns and cities, a ballot box setback that prompted immediate promises of reinvigorated reforms from his government.

Sarkozy will "take into account the message expressed by the French," government spokesman Laurent Wauquiez said Monday, adding that there would be "adjustments" in the Cabinet soon but no major shakeup.

The president s office quickly announced that Sarkozy was doing away with the job of official spokesman, held by David Martinon, disgraced after an internal party rebellion forced him out of the mayoral race in Sarkozy s fiefdom of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Two men, Elysee secretary general Claude Gueant and chief diplomatic aide Jean-David Levitte, are to handle presidential communications, Sarkozy s office said.

Reading into the election outcome, Wauquiez, the government spokesman, said on France-Inter radio that voters seemed to want results from promised reforms "faster in their daily lives."

While of only limited national import, the reverses in municipal elections yesterday for mayors and city councilors were a sobering reminder of how the 53-year-old Sarkozy has shrunk in the estimation of some voters since he was elected last May on a programme of in-depth economic and social change for France. (AP) SDG 03180012 DEL NNNN

Source : PTI