Sarkozy's revised French constitution headed for vote

The bill would set a two-term limit for presidents, give parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, end government control over parliament's committee system and allow parliament to set its own agenda.Â

But the clause that has dominated public debate is one that would let the president address parliament once a year, which the head of state has been barred from doing since 1875 to ensure the executive and legislative are kept separate.

Socialist senator and former justice minister Robert Badinter said the reform would be the equivalent of crowning Sarkozy king.

If the president addresses parliament directly, in a French-style state of the union address, "what happens to the prime minister in that case, all small on his bench next to his silent ministers?" "It's monocracy, the power of a single man," he said last week.

But right-winger Sarkozy has argued that his reform of the constitution -- which was brought in by President Charles de Gaulle in 1958 and gives the president sweeping powers -- grants more weight to Frances weak parliament.

The bill also proposes to do away with the president’s power to issue collective pardons -- such as for example, issuing pardons for all those who have less than six months of their sentences remaining.

But on Monday it looked far from certain that the bill would pass.

It must get a three-fifths majority and Sarkozy is thus dependent on cross-party support as the 330 members of the Senate and 576 deputies of the lower-house National Assembly meet in the chateau of Versailles -- the former residence of French kings -- for a so-called congress to vote on the project.

Despite last-minute concessions, the Socialists, the Greens and the Communists have all said they will vote against.

The result of the congress could depend on as little as two or three votes.

 

REFERENDUM CONCERNING TURKEY

The reform bill also calls for a referendum to be held in France, which opposes Turkey's joining the EU and proposes "privileged partnership" instead, before any new member state is allowed into the bloc.

But that stipulation could be waived if a three-fifths majority in each assembly authorizes the president to use parliamentary ratification instead.

France is among the countries against Turkey’s EU membership and this amendment is seen as a new obstacle put in place by Paris ahead of Ankara’s accession process.

The result of Monday's vote was expected around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Sarkozy was due back in Paris later Monday after a brief trip to Dublin to discuss the way forward after Ireland's shock rejection of the European Union's Lisbon treaty, which has plunged the bloc into fresh turmoil.

France on July 1 took over the rotating EU presidency.