PARIS, March 11 — French voters are set to deliver a sharp blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy this weekend in regional polls that will provide his final electoral test before the 2012 presidential race.
Surveys point to a crushing defeat for Sarkozy’s centre-right UMP party with the opposition Socialists aiming for a clean sweep of the 22 mainland regions in the two-round election on March 14 and 21.
“We’re heading for a classic mid-term election where the sitting government is going to be punished,” said Frederic Dabi, director of the opinion and strategy section of pollsters Ifop.






